Suzanne
by Artemis Brown
Summary: The Turks get a false tipoff as to where AVALANCHE is headed next. They don't find AVALANCHE, but Reno finds something else that's been missing from his life for a long time. Reno/OC You will find no Mary Sue's here!
1. Chapter 1

(Authors note: I don't own any of the characters except for Suzanne and Sean. This is my first shot at a FFVII fanfic, so go easy on me. Please rate this, and I hope you like it!)

**NEW A/N. PLEASE READ**: Okay, I really didn't want to have to do this... I wanted to rewrite the first two chapters... but I lost my writers block, and I went back to writing the new chapters, so PLEASE don't hit me!! I will tell you this now, my lovely readers... The first two chapters of this are not my best. I think at the start I was having trouble establishing just what kind of story this was going to be. I stopped writing it for quite some time after the second chapter, and when I went back to it, basically, I said "fuck it" (yes, I said "the eff word". Sue me. It's an M fic. You opened it, so HA!) and started writing whatever came to mind. And BEHOLD!! The story improved about 100 percent. So just deal with the first two chapters, I swear to GOD it gets better. I WILL rewrite the opening chapters eventually. Maybe next time I get some writer's block. Thank you for dealing with them!! Enjoy! (the later chapters... but then again, if you like the first two, maybe the others will seem even better?? Who knows!)

Chapter 1

The wind tossed Reno's cherry-red hair around as if it were nothing as he and the rest of the Turks sped towards Rocket Town in their buggy. He ran a hand through his crimson locks and leaned back in his seat. "So tell me again why we're going to that dump?"

Tseng shot a glare at him. "First off, it's a pretty nice town compared to some we've gone to... And for the last time! I heard that's where AVALANCHE plans to go next!" He turned to face the front window again, throwing directions at Rude every now and then.

They sat in silence for another 15 minutes before Reno began to speak up again, but Tseng quickly cut in. "We're not there yet..."

Reno put a hand to his head. "Good job genius, but I wasn't gonna ask that... I'm not five, I'm 24..." He moved his hand down to rest in the open window. "How are you going to solve the whole problem of housing when we don't have any money for a hotel?" Tseng turned around in his seat to face him, pulling a sheet of paper out of his pocket in the process.

"Right here." He started. "Shinra gave us permission to take up residence in local's homes." He handed it to Reno. He looked it over, and nodded his head approvingly.

"Sweet deal you've got here..." He handed the document back carefully, and pulled out a cigarette. Right as he was about to light it, Elena pulled it out of his mouth and tossed it out of the window. "What'd you do that for!" Reno practically screamed at her.

She gave him a look of death. "You KNOW I hate smoking, so you're definitely not going to light up when we're in a cramped car right next to each other..." They continued to glare at each other as though they were arguing silently, and finally, Reno broke the stare and continued to stare off into space. He let out a deep miserable sigh and leaned back to go to sleep.

* * *

_Reno..._

A nudge.

_Reno!_

"Huh?"

_Wake up, or you'll get a face full of ice!_

Reno sat up and drowsily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked at his surroundings. Somehow in the course of about two hours, he'd ended up with his head in Elena's lap. It didn't last long. As soon as he opened his eyes, she'd pushed him off. "Jesus, Reno! You're even a lech in your sleep!"

He sat up again, rubbing his eyes a bit more. "Why didn't you do that right when I first laid down?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "Tseng insisted I let you sleep undisturbed... Something about you being infinitely less irritating if you weren't making noise..." Reno gave her a look of contempt. They were both snapped out of their glaring contest when Tseng spoke up.

"We're here, so... We need to start looking for good housing." They both looked at him for a moment before retiring from their fight. They grabbed their suitcases and followed him into town, the cool night air blowing across their faces.

They approached the first house, and Tseng extracted the government slip. He rapped on the door, and finally, it was answered by a nice looking old lady. "Ma'am," he started. "We will be taking residence in your home until further notice." The old woman seemed more than happy about it.

"Oh, that's wonderful, dear... In all honesty, I haven't had anyone in this old house for about 10 years now. I'll be happy to. Now then, how many?" She looked behind him and counted. "Oh dear... I can only house three. I'm sorry."

Tseng turned to the other Turks. "Hear that Reno?"

Reno looked around for a moment, confused. "Me?"

Tseng nodded. "Yep. You heard the lady. You're going to need to find somewhere else to stay."

A surprised and shocked expression fell across his face. "Why me?!" He demanded.

"Well," Tseng said, looking at the others. "We don't like you." He looked at Elena again, and she nodded vigorously. "Yep. Good Turk, bad personality..." Reno drooped his head in defeat. Tseng looked to Elena. "Elena, go start unpacking the rest and preparing our rooms. I'm going to go get this idiot some housing." She nodded at him dreamily, uttering "okay Tseng" in the most attractive voice she could muster, before starting to the car.

Reno watched with a quirked brow as she skipped off, happy to do their leaders bidding. "Hopeless…" Tseng motioned for him to follow and they started through the rest of the town.

They wandered down the street in silence for a while, and came across a nice little house. Tseng stopped Reno. "See? Here's a nice place." He walked up to the front door, leaving Reno at the end of the walkway, and knocked a few times. A young girl with shoulder length brunette hair answered the door. She had cool blue-green eyes, and stood at about 5'4". She wore jeans and an off-the-shoulder blue blouse. "Excuse me, is your mother home?"

She scratched her head. "Uh... I don't live with my mom... I'm a little old for that..." Tseng looked a little taken aback.

"Really? How old are you? You look so young." He squinted his eyes, studying her baby face, wondering how the girl before him could be more than 16.

She furrowed her brow. "Um... I'm 20... Could you stop staring? It makes me really uncomfortable..." He blushed a little and straightened him self up again. "Are you here for a reason, or just to stare at me?" She cocked her head a little.

"Actually, I'm here to ask if it would be alright for one of my co-workers to stay with you, until further notice." His face was suddenly very business-like again.

"That's a weird request! Hell no! It's not like you can just waltz in and insist someone stay here!"

He leaned forward. "Actually, it's a lot like that..." He took out the sheet of paper and handed it to her. She read it over, frowning at the document. Her eyes traveled up to the red-head, who was currently digging around in his ear with his little finger, at the end of her walkway. She grimaced and looked back at the paper, re-reading it.

"Well… It appears I don't have much of a choice…"

Tseng took the paper back. "Yes, unfortunately for you. Try and keep him out of trouble, would you?" With that, he turned, walking back to the unruly mess of a Turk. "Well, she said you could stay."

Reno shot a glare at him. "She seemed kinda firey... I think I'll stay on the streets..." Tseng grabbed the top of Reno's head and turned it to face her.

"Have you looked at her? Just think, you're allowed to do pretty much anything... Any crime... and get away with it with this grant." Reno turned back to face him again. He stared for a moment.

"I don't think I follow..." Tseng smacked him over the head. Reno rubbed it for a moment. "I still don't-" He stopped and thought for a moment. "Ooooohh... THAT'S what you mean..." He smiled evilly. "Alright, I think I'm just fine with this plan..." Tseng clapped him on the shoulder.

"Atta boy... Meet over at the old woman's house tomorrow at 8 p.m. sharp. Alright?" Reno nodded, and Tseng left.

He turned to face the front door, and approached the girl. She stared at him wearily. As he drew near, she slowly raised her hand to her mouth. Right as he was about a foot away, she stopped him. "Excuse me... Before you make your self at home, would you do me a big favor and take a shower?" He stopped and thought for a minute.

_Do I really smell? Rude doesn't complain... 'Course, he never talks anyway... But Tseng and Elena don't complain! But… MAYBE they do… Can't remember…_

He pulled to collar of his shirt to his nose and sniffed it. He shut his eyes for a moment, and tried to make the smell leave his lungs, by coughing a little. "Alright then... Where's the shower?"

She started to lift up his suitcase. "Upstairs, first door on the left. Your room will be the second door on the left." He stared to head upstairs. "Wait! Don't you need a change of clothes?" He shrugged and kept going.

He stepped into the bathroom, and looked around. It was a bright bathroom, that could be suited to pretty much anyone, not at all what he expected. He expected it to be more feminine, looking at her manner of dress. He sighed and started to strip. After he'd taken off his shirt, he leaned over and turned on the shower. He took off the rest of his clothes, and hopped in.

As the warm water beat against Reno's skin, he felt he could think clearly for the first time in what seemed like years. In fact, that's why he hated showers. It seemed like whenever he showered, he was able to think, and what he thought about wasn't always pretty. He would always reflect on his life, and begin to regret more and more. He scrubbed the invisible layer of muck and filth off his skin, while he started on his normal thinking pattern. First, it was innocent thoughts of how nice it is to get a shower. Then, it would be recent events, which for the past few years involved Turks. He moved on to wash his hair. Then, he would begin to ponder why he became a Turk. And past that was blank since he always finished his shower by this point. He turned off the water and grabbed a towel. He climbed out and dried himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist, and looked where he had previously thrown his clothes. Reno sighed and opened the door. "Where are my clothes!" He called down the stairs.

"I'm washing them! They stink!" was the only reply he got.

He furrowed his brow. "What am I supposed to wear?"

"You have other clothes!" the voice said. Reno sighed and walked to his room. The walls were light blue with white trim. The bed, on which his suitcase was laying, was dark blue, and centered against the wall. He approached the suitcase, and began to rummage around in it, until he found what he was looking for, a pair of pants and boxers. He sniffed them a little to make sure they were clean, and tossed them on. Before leaving, he noticed a toothbrush sitting in his suitcase. He thought for a minute, reached in and grabbed it out. He strolled back out of his room, to the bathroom, and brushed his teeth quickly. He left it on the counter and cantered down the stairs, where he found the girl washing his clothes while wearing a mask. She turned to face him, glaring. "How is it even possible to get clothes so dirty!"

He scratched his head lazily. "By not changing them for a month?"

She stared at him disgusted for a moment, and pushed the soapy tub aside. She took the gloves and mask she was wearing, and turned to him again. "Tea?" He nodded. She walked over to the stove, grabbed the kettle, and led him into the dining room. He sat down, and she poured him a cup, then herself. They sipped at their tea in silence, when the girl finally spoke up. "So... What is your name?"

He took a sip of his tea. "Reno..."

She stared at him while continuing to drink her tea. "I'm Suzanne." He set his empty tea glass down and stood up.

"I don't give a damn about your name." He began to move towards her.

"E-excuse me?" He put a hand next to her face, and took out a knife.

"You're to do what you're told. Are we clear?" She nodded nervously. He leaned in to put his lips to hers, when he heard a small yawn from behind him.

Reno turned around to see where the noise came from, only to see a small boy. Suzanne looked over Reno's shoulder to the boy. "Sean? Go back to bed. Now."

The small boy stared for a minute. "Who is that man?"

Reno turned back to look at her again. "Didn't you say you were 20?" He stared at her in disbelief as he tried to figure out how she had had a child.

She glared at him and whispered. "He's my little brother you twit..." She regained a sweet composure. "He's just a nice man who will be staying with us for a while. Now go back to bed." The boy slowly and reluctantly walked back up the stairs. Right as he was out of sight, she glared back at Reno. "Would you really do this to me with a child in the house?"

"_Please! Leave me alone! My son's in this house!"_

"_Shut up, lady! This'll only take a little while... And it won't hurt a bit!" _

He snapped back to reality when he heard a soft voice call his name. "Reno?" He looked down into the glassy pools in Suzanne's eyes. "Are you alright? You looked as white as a ghost."

"Yeah..." He relaxed a little and blinked a few times. "I've gotta go to bed..." She stared at him confused for a moment as he walked up the stairs to his room. He threw the door open, tossed his suitcase off the bed, and collapsed onto it. He rubbed his face for a moment. "What's wrong with me?"

* * *

Downstairs, Suzanne was nervously sipping her tea.

'_Are you alright? You look as white as a ghost.' Tch! Why should I be worried about that lecherous idiot! I should have kicked him out right then and there! _

Her hand began to shake so badly, that she dropped her cup. She didn't feel the need to make an effort to catch it, she simply watched it fall to the ground and break. She sighed and bent over to begin to pick up the pieces.

_If he hadn't stopped, he could've screwed Sean up for life..._

She suddenly paused.

_...But he stopped... _

She sat in deep thought for a minute. "UH! What am I thinking!"

She carried the pieces to the kitchen and threw them in the trash, cutting herself in the process. She let out a yelp, mostly from surprise, and put her finger in her mouth. She turned on the sink, and began treating the wound. "What's wrong with me?"

* * *

"Hey, mister?" Reno looked around groggily as the sun spilled into his room, hurting his eyes. He winced, and shielded himself with his forearm. He looked around for the source of the sound that woke him up from his dreamless sleep. His eyes met that of the same boy from the night before.

He squinted at him and wrinkled his nose. "What're you doin' in here at dis hourr, kid?" He said in slurred tones as his eyes slowly came to a focus. "And don't call me "mister"... It makes me feel old..."

The child looked around nervously for a moment before responding. "Um... It's past ten o'clock... And Suzi says that if you don't get your butt downstairs, you don't get any breakfast..." Reno stared, while trying to kick his brain into gear to understand this. "Well..." said the boy, reminding him of his presence. "I'm goin' downstairs to get my own breakfast..."

Reno sat up and rubbed his temples. "That kid's got guts, talking to me like that..." He sighed and swung his legs over the bed, landing on the floor softly. His staggered over to his suitcase and pulled out a black shirt with thin white pinstripes on it, and some black pants. He tottered down the stairs and fell over into a chair at the table.

"Well it's about time!" Reno looked over to see Suzanne dressed very differently in comparison from the day before. Rather than something cool and casual, she was dressed in a black tank top, baggy kaki pants, brown gloves, boots, and she had a seemingly random pair of goggles resting on top of her head. "Now hurry and eat! It's getting cold!" He stared at her for a while longer before his stomach finally got the best of him. He loaded up his plate with eggs and bacon, as Suzanne began to give her brother, Sean, instructions for the day. "You know what you can make for lunch? Good. And if you need anything, you know where I am..." etc, etc... Reno ate his last bite, and took out a cigarette. Suzanne, who seemed so into ordering her brother around, snapped over to look at him. A very frightening glare crept across her face as she began to stomp over to him. "Don't you DARE light that up in a house with a ten-year-old in it!" She grabbed it out of his mouth and threw it on the ground, stomping on it. "Don't you have even an ounce of common sense!" She then stormed back over to Sean, and continued to leave him contacts, and such. Reno leaned back in his chair.

_Geez... The kid must get the stones from her... And what the hell's up with women and no-smoking rules?_

She finally finished with Sean, and walked over to Reno. "And YOU! Don't even TRY to cause any trouble while I'm gone or I'll be here to kick your ass in a heartbeat!" And with that, she trod out the front door, and slammed it shut behind her. The two boys sat in silence for a while, before the younger finally approached the elder.

"So... My sister told me not to talk to you unless I had to..." He stopped for a moment, looking almost ashamed. "Did you do something bad?" He continued to stare intently upon Reno, who wouldn't take his eyes off the ceiling, while waiting for a response.

"To put it simply, I do bad things for a living, kid... Sorry to disappoint you..." He closed his eyes in hopes of the child leaving him alone, but Sean kept talking.

"Well!" He started. "What if you did a bunch of good stuff! She couldn't stay mad at you then!"

Reno stared at the kid in amazement for a few seconds, and let out a light laugh. "I seriously doubt that..." He stated simply. "I'm pretty sure she hates me with every ounce of her being..." But the child didn't seem to be listening.

"C'mon! You can keep me entertained while she's working." He reached over, grabbed his hand and began to pull him up to his room. "And when she gets home, maybe she'll change her mind about you!" Reno finally gave in, since he had nothing better to do, and went upstairs with the kid.

* * *

"Wrench!"

"So then he showed me this paper that said I was required to comply or else I'd be arrested or something STUPID like that..."

"Gimme the wrench!"

"So the guy walked up to the door, and he smelled SO BAD so I told him to take a shower and when he got in I snuck in and took his clothes..."

"I need that wrench sometime today!"

"And then he got all mad at me so I told him to go get other clothes since I was washing his and he came downstairs and I offered him tea, and..."

Cid pulled himself out from under the Tiny Bronco. "Suzanne! Get me the goddamned wrench or I'll get it myself and shove it up your tiny ass!" She stopped talking and calmly handed him the wrench.

"Sorry... Anyways... I asked him his name and he told me so I thought it was only polite to tell him mine so I did but he told me he didn't care..." She continued talking through Cid yet again.

"Can you get me a screwdriver?"

"Then he got up and held a knife to my throat and told me I was supposed to do what he said and he was about to kiss me when..." Cid hit his head against the bottom of the Tiny Bronco, and crawled out.

He rubbed his head. "SHIT! Who did you say this person was!" He yelled in disbelief.

She rolled her eyes in thought. "Well, his name's Reno. But he's not a soldier... I actually have no idea what he does..."

Cid put his hand to his forehead, and let it run down his face. He finally looked down at her. "You know I think of you almost as a daughter... right?" She nodded. "What I'm saying is, if he does anything to you, tell me. And I'll kick his ass..." She smiled.

"Thanks, Cid..."

He rubbed her head. "Atta girl..." A thought ran through his head and he stopped. "Did he...?"

She shook her head. "Nah... Sean came downstairs, so he stopped..." She furrowed her brow. "But that's where I'm stumped... Not that I'm mad that he stopped, but I'm just curious as to WHY he stopped... It's not like his kind of person..." They each stood there in silence, thinking about this. "Oh! Uh, here's the screwdriver." She held it out to him.

Cid took hold of it and pointed it at her. "Just... Careful, alright? A girl like you shouldn't be around thugs like that in the first place..."

She smiled sweetly. "I know Cid... I will be..."

He grinned and wiped the sweat and oil off his face. "Good..." He crawled back under the plane, and continued working.

* * *

Suzanne walked through the front door and kicked her shoes off. "I'm home!" Her voice echoed through the house, receiving no response. Her eyes darted all around the room as a worried expression crossed her face. Right as she began to panic, she heard a familiar deep utter from upstairs.

"Hit me." She glared, and ran upstairs. She flung the door open to find Reno and Sean sitting on the floor playing blackjack. "Hit me." Sean dealt a card to the elder. Reno smiled and laid down his cards. "Ha! 21! I win again..." Sean let out a frustrated sigh. "Care to play another round?" Reno looked up at Suzanne as though noticing her for the first time, then Sean turned around.

"Hi Suzi! Reno taught me a new game." Reno raised his hand in a slight wave.

Suzanne simply stared, searching for a reason to look down upon the man she desperately wanted to consider filth. "You... You..." Then a thought sparked. "You taught him how to gamble! What's next? Heavy drinking!"

He stared at her calmly. "We weren't betting anything." Her face fell, but quickly changed to a glare when she saw the clock.

"It's 8:10..."

Reno gazed intently. "...So?"

She maintained her stern stare. "Your friend said to meet him at 8:00. Go. Now."

He let out a sigh and leaned his head back. "Nah... They expect me to be late anyway..."

She gave him a look that could kill. "I said go... NOW." He looked at her, somewhat bored. He shrugged, stood up, and began to walk out, shoving his hands in his pockets on the way. Turning back to Sean, smiling, she asked. "So... What do you want for dinner?"

Sean glared a little. "You shouldn't be so mean to him..."

Her expression hardened. "That's my choice Sean..."

"Mom would've tried to be nicer..." He said coldly.

"You know nothing about our mother." She hissed. Tears filled her eyes, and she left the room.

* * *

Reno downed his glass of whiskey in a single gulp, and moved right onto his next, not really listening to Tseng's plans for their course of action. He would listen in on the occasional mention of his name, but aside from that, he was just enjoying the free drinks.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll begin our shifts. Elena?" Elena nodded to Tseng. "You take the 6 am to noon shift. Reno, you've got the noon to 6 shift, since you seem to favor sleep over everything else..." He watched him down another drink. "Except for maybe a good cup of whiskey… Anyway, I'll take the 6 to midnight, and Rude's got the midnight to 6 am. We'll stick to these shifts until they show up, or we receive further notice from Shinra. Any questions?" Elena raised her hand.

"Sir, do we have any sort of signal to alert the others of their arrival?" Tseng nodded.

"There's not an exact signal, but this is a small town, so we'll probably hear any signs of a struggle or a fight." Elena gulped. "Now. Reno, you can go back home, and we'll turn in. Don't forget your shift."

Reno drank the last of his whiskey. "Yeah, yeah..." He supported himself on the table, and helped himself up. He put a hand to his head for a moment, and staggered out the door.

* * *

Suzanne rolled over in bed and looked at the clock. "12:30... Where IS he?" She let out a deep sigh and buried her face in her pillow. _Jesus, Suzanne... He's a jackass... Stop worrying about him... _Right as she thought this, she heard the door creak open, and slam. A thump on the hard wood floor downstairs rang through the house. She sat up and watched her door. A slurred mumble of the word "shit" sounded, along with steps going up the stairs.

Her breath began to become unsteady, not sure what was to come, when finally, Reno pushed the door open, letting it swing on the hinges, while he simply stood in the door frame. She let out a loud sigh of relief. "Oh god... Reno you scared me." He didn't respond, but began to walk uneasily towards her, until he was finally sitting on her bed gazing into her eyes.

She stared into his heavy lidded eyes through the dark, and began to feel a little uncomfortable. "Reno... Could you please go to your own room?" He leaned forward, and gently touched his lips to hers. She pulled away, wide-eyed and shocked, but he grabbed her wrists and pushed her down on the bed, looming over her. She struggled a bit. "R-Reno! Get off of me!" He leaned down and softly began to kiss her neck. "Reno, I'll tell Cid! He'll kick your ass!" He responded to this with a complement.

"You're beautiful..." She blushed almost to the shade of his hair. He continued to kiss her, when suddenly, all of his weight drop down on her. His breath deepened, and he lay there, perfectly still. Suzanne squirmed around a little under his weight.

"Reno?" He didn't reply. "Reno, seriously. This isn't funny. Get off." A very soft snoring began to echo in her ear. "Great... He's asleep..." She glared at the ceiling for a moment, and shyly looked at him. Her eyes traveled over his face. _He seems so laid back all the time... Not how I would've pictured a Shinra officer... _She squirmed around briefly, working one of her arms out from under him to pat his drunken head lightly. _But he's still an ass… _A sigh left her lips, before she settled down for the night and gave into her dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Alrighty... don't own anyone except for Suzanne and Sean... everyone else belongs to Squaresoft...

Chapter 2

_Mmm... So soft... Soft?_

Reno awoke before Suzanne the next morning to find himself clutching her tightly around the waist. Still half asleep, he brought his hand up to stroke her cheek. He gradually regained more and more consciousness, until he realized where he was. "Shit... What did I do last night! She's gonna kill me!" He looked around frantically. He let out a deep sigh of relief when he looked down and found he was still wearing clothes, as was she. He winced and put a hand to his head. "Fuck... I knew I shouldn't have had that 7th shot last night..."

He started out the door and looked back to see her sleeping innocently. She pulled up the blanket a little and sighed quietly. Reno blushed a little and continued to stare. His eyes glazed over a bit. "...If I could kiss her..." He scoffed and scratched his head. Reno cast one more glance at her and left to his own room.

Suzanne's eyes fluttered open, as she moved a hand to where his hands rested most of the night. She sat up and looked around for him for a moment before realizing he must have left. She relaxed a little and crawled out of bed towards her closet. She tossed on some clothes and jogged downstairs. The more she thought of her situation with Reno, the angrier she became. "Acting like he owns the place..." She mumbled as she poured ingredients into a bowl, she began to furiously beat the mixture, working off some steam in the process. She forcefully set the bowl down, splattering some of its contents onto the counter in the process. She pulled out a waffle iron and poured out some batter. "Doing whatever he pleases, not giving a damn..." As she said these words, she heard a voice behind her.

"Not to mention smoking, and setting a bad example for Sean."

"No kidding!" She spat over her shoulder before realizing it was none other than the man she'd been ranting about. "...YOU..."

Reno sat down at the table. "Yeah, me... So what's for breakfast?"

She stormed over, and sat down opposite from him. "Don't sit there ask about breakfast! If you ever sneak into my room again, I'll have your head!"

He leaned towards her. "Where?"

She stared inquisitively. "Huh? Where, what?"

He smirked in a mocking sort of way. "Where will you put my head?"

She stared at him, anger all over her face. "What kind of a question is THAT? Where would I put your..." Suddenly, a look of understanding crossed her face. "Head... Head is another word for... Oral- THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

He took out a cigarette and slipped it into his mouth. "Yeah... I'm surprised you managed to make the connection... By the way, your waffles are burning..." She turned and looked at the smoke coming from the waffle iron. She started over, but ran back and tore the cigarette from Reno's lips.

"No smoking in my house..." She then proceeded to remove the blackened waffle.

* * *

"I don't know what to do with him... I mean, he's not QUITE as bad as when he first came, but still!" Suzanne brushed her hair out of her face and shrugged. "I mean, really! Getting drunk and crawling into bed with me? What the hell!"

"He crawled into bed with you! That (&!" Cid spat out his cigarette. "Where the &#& is he!" She pointed a gloved finger at Reno's figure at the town entrance. "Him? Huh... He looks like a Turk..."

Suzanne looked at him inquisitively. "Turk?" Cid nodded.

"Yeah... Hired mercenaries for Shinra... They do all the dirty work. Guarding, kidnapping, killing, if they have to..." She shivered a little.

"I'm housing one of THEM?" Cid nodded.

"Seems that way..." He stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to 'im..." She reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Don't... I'll let you know if I need you to, but he hasn't done anything yet... Well, nothing too bad..." Cid gave her an awkward look. "Alright, it was bad. But he was drunk, so I'm forgiving him." He shrugged.

"Suit yourself..." He started back to the Tiny Bronco, but turned back to her raising a finger.

"I know, I know, you'll kick his ass if I ask..." Cid stared for a moment, shrugged, and went back to work.

* * *

Reno took a short glance over at the "Captain's" house, where he saw Cid and Suzanne deep in conversation. He knew something was up when she pointed at him and the older guy started to walk towards him. "Great..." He muttered to himself as he lit up a long-needed cigarette. "She's practically got a body guard..." She seemed to ask him to stop, as he turned around and continued working.

The day went by slowly, almost as if time had stopped completely, but Reno stood steadfast at his post for a flat 4 of the six hours. He checked his watch. "I need a drink..." He grumbled to himself. Just as he was about to take a break, Suzanne approached him. Without hesitation, she cut right to the point.

"What exactly is your job?" He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What business is that of yours?"

"Well," She said, nervously. "If you're living with me, you could at least tell me WHY..."

He thought for a moment, studying her face, trying to find the reason that she'd want to know. "...Nah... I don't think I will..."

"WHAT?!"

He smirked at her. "You heard me."

"I hate you..." She mumbled bitterly.

He began to light up another cigarette. "Suuuure you do..."

She stared at him for a moment in silence as he dug around in his pockets for his lighter, or some other source of fire. "...I'm going to hit you now..."

He finally withdrew a matchbook, and began to try to get one to light. "Fair enough..."

She stared at him gritting her teeth. "RRRRR! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO LAID BACK ALL THE TIME!" She balled her hand into a fist and threw a punch at him. He fell over unconscious, the newly lit cigarette rolling away. She stomped on him a few times, and slowly came to a stop. She looked around. "Oh crap... I could get in trouble for that..." She glanced over her shoulders, making sure that no Turks were around, and began to drag him away.

* * *

Reno awoke to the cold touch of a damp cloth to his head. He looked around in a daze, seeing the blurred images of Suzanne and her house. "Wha happen...?" She blushed nervously.

"I knocked you out..." She stared at him uncomfortably, awaiting a response. "Then stomped on you a bunch..." He began to push himself into a sitting position.

"...Quite a right hook ya got there..." He muttered, trying to re-adjust his jaw. She sighed and relaxed a little. "But I think I could've gone without the trampling..." He began his struggling to sit up.

She slumped over. "You're not mad... Are you?"

He gave up the strain to sit and drooped back onto the couch. "Nah... But you owe me for this one..."

She stared down at him coldly. "Fair enough..." She looked away for a moment, but turned back to him. "But none of that kinky shit, alright? I don't do that..."

Reno smirked and put his hand to his forehead. "Well, that ruins my agenda for tonight..." She glared at him as he stared at her innocently. Her mouth formed into a slight grin and she scratched her head.

"You are too much..."He stared up at her with a teasing look in his eyes. "Could you, uh... Stop that? It's creeping me out." He once again put on that famous smirk, and abruptly leapt up and tackled her. She squealed in surprise as she hit the ground with a loud thud. "I THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T MOVE!" He lay on top of her grinning all the while.

"I couldn't." She glared.

"Then get the hell off!" He smiled calmly.

"No can do. Can't move again." She sighed.

"Is this going to be a daily occurrence now, or what?" Reno gave the slightest of shrugs.

"I dunno, depends on if you punch me out every day, and how often I get drunk." Suzanne growled and began to squirm under his weight, trying to get free. "I wouldn't do that if I were you..." She gave a glare that could bore a hole into his head.

"WHY THE HELL NOT!" She continued to squirm, and felt something poke her leg. "What the hell is... EW! EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEEEEEW!" He shook his head.

"Told ya."

"You guys are friends now!" They both looked over, shocked, to see Sean watching them. "That means you won't argue anymore! Right?"

Reno smiled up at him while Suzanne simply stared. "Yep! That's right, kid! No more arguing for us! Right, Suz?"

She gave him a 'what the hell are you trying to do' look, but quickly smiled at Sean all the same. "Uh... Sure! Yep! Arguing is bad!"

Sean smiled cheerfully. "Good! I'm going to Keith's house. Kay?" He left the room, slowly closing the door behind him. Suzanne's face distorted a little and changed into another glare. "What the hell are you trying to do!" She shoved him off of her and sat up. He winced a little. "He's still impressionable!"

He stood up, holding his trampled gut while extracting a small round green orb. "Impressionable, my ass... Hell, I knew more than he did at that age... Cure." He shimmered green for a moment, and cocked his head from side to side, regaining his cool composure.

She stormed over to him. "Just because you knew more doesn't mean he has to learn about it! You don't know how to raise a kid, so stop trying to take responsibility for mine!"

He stared at her indifferently. "He's not yours. He will never BE yours. And I'm beginning to think that you don't know how to take care of him either." He stumbled a little at the impact of Suzanne's hand against his face.

He pushed her up against a wall. "I'm tired of you constantly picking fights with me over things that pose no real problem. If you want to fight, I'll fight. But I'll tell you this now. You do NOT want to fuck with me. I have kidnapped, tortured and killed people. If I get serious, I won't hold back."

She stared fiercely into his eyes. "I think you underestimate me."

He smirked a little. "Oh really?" Releasing her, he stepped back a little. "Show me." He withdrew a metal rod from his coat and took up a fighting stance.

"Wait..." She said, staring at him confused. "Seriously?"

He wore a slight glare on his face. "Dead serious." She reluctantly took up a fire poker from the brick fireplace. He looked it over questionably. "That's you're weapon?" She nodded a little. Reno shrugged. "All right..."

He charged towards her with his electro-mag rod, preparing to strike. She whipped the poker in front of her, blocking his attack. He smirked. "You're quick." She grinned back. "...But not quick enough." He maneuvered his rod out of the locked position with the poker, and crushed it into her side.

Suzanne's eyes shot open in pain as she fell to the floor, clutching her stomach. The red-head knelt beside her, watching her roll around in agony for a moment before picking her up and laying her down on the couch. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!" She managed to shout between screams.

"I electrocuted you... And you took a blow to the stomach from my metal rod..." He watched her cry for a bit longer, and once again produced his cure materia. "All you do is cry... Don't you even have a potion? Cure." She shimmered green for a moment in the same way Reno had earlier. She took a few deep breaths, glowering at him all the while. He eyed her a little. "Oh! Of course!" He leaned in and gave her a slight peck on the lips. "That's my payback for beating the hell out of me earlier." She turned a shade of scarlet, her eyes wide. Her somewhat expressionless face turned to a scowl. Her hand once again flew across his face. He held his cheek for a moment, and looked down at her. "You owe me again!" He leaned forward and joined his lips to hers. Rage spread across her face as she took up the fire poker once more.

"You... YOU..." She let out a battle cry and began to chase Reno around, swinging the metal spike wildly. He simply laughed and rounded on her. After tearing the poker from her, he grabbed her wrists and pinned her down. They each stared at each other, realizing the position they were in. His eyes softened, and he lowered his mouth over hers.

He continued to kiss her passionately, all the while, receiving the same treatment from her, until she pulled away suddenly. "Wait... I... I can't do this..." She began to clamber out from under him.

He sat up and brushed himself off. "Why not?"

Suzanne paced around a little and looked back to him. "I don't want to do this type of thing with someone, unless I know they'll be there for me when I need them."

Reno stared for a moment. "Meaning what?"

She looked down at him. "You won't be here forever. You'll probably be gone in a few months, maybe even less. Besides... You're not serious about me, you just want some lovin' before you crack, and I'm all that's available."

He put a hand to his head. "This is stupid. Who cares? Why can't we have some fun while I'm here? We've gotta do SOMETHING before I leave. Can't we just be make-out buddies?"

She whipped around. "No! I'm not that kind of person!"

"But you just..."

"SHUT UP!" She put a hand to her head. "I... I don't know why I did that..."

Reno stood up and took slow steps towards her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in closely to her face. "But you did..." He brushed his lips, ever so lightly against hers.

Suzanne gave him a slight push. "Stop..." her heart felt like it was pounding in her throat. "Stop it!" She shoved him away and ran out of the room and down the hall.

He stumbled a little and looked at the door she so recently ran out of. "Damn! What the hell is up with that chick?!"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: THINGS!!

P.S. OMG, UPDATING?? IT'S BEEN SO LONG, I KNO!! I'm house-sitting, I've got wooden floors to slide around on when I'm bored, there's a pizza in the oven, and I've been watching Sailor Moon for two days. I'M READY TO WRITE DIS SHIIIIT.

P.P.S. Sorry for the shitty chapters before this… looking back, it's not my best writing. Mostly with Suzanne. Her personality keeps flipping around. I'll just say she's bi-polar and call it good…

P.P.P.S. This chapter has Author's notes because I'm in a weird mood. Think of it like Princess Bride (the book, you twit), and maybe it will be more charming. :D

Chapter 3

Suzanne stood on the other side of her bedroom door, leaning against it after so furiously shutting it behind her. Her room was dark except for the slits of evening sun shining through the blinds of her window. Her mind was racing, trying to find a solution- _anything-_ to reassure her of her sanity. What if there was no sanity to be reassured of? What if… "I'm insane…?" She though aloud. She was a bi-polar, and she _had_ been off her meds for a while… ((Author's Note: See? Told you I'd blame it all on that… And now I'll never mention it in this story again… I'll see you in your dreeeams!! whoosh!!)) But that was no excuse for… for… KISSING him…

She knew at least that she had developed a physical attraction to him, but normal people don't usually act on impulses like that. "This isn't a fanfiction!!" She cried. "This is my life!!" She needed to be consoled… She needed guidance… But who could provide that? And of course, the obvious popped into her head. "Cid'll know what to do…" She turned and flung the door back open to see Reno standing there, situated as though he was about to knock.

"Suzanne, I wanted to-"

"AAAAHHHH!!" She pushed him over and ran for the front door, darting though and slamming it shut behind her, much like she had done not five minutes ago in her bedroom.

Reno sat on the floor for a moment and scratched his head. "She hit me again…… She _owes_ me again… Maybe if she does it enough I can get something more out of her…" He withdrew a small notebook and started a page labeled "Times Suzanne Has Been Mean To Me". He scratched a little mark on it. "One."

* * *

Cid sat down for tea calmly after a long day of work. He slowly drew his cup to his lips, and-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"CID!!"

Cid glared down at his teacup which had been shattered by his startled grip. If it was anyone other that Suzanne he would have been upset, but because he suspected she was there because of some moral thing where he would have to play daddy for a few minutes, he sighed instead, stood, and opened the door. "What did he do?"

"I kissed him…" She mumbled through tears. "What do I do?"

"You stopped taking your meds, didn't you?" ((Author's Note: Okay, I lied a little.))

"That's beside the point!"

Cid snickered a little before opening the door more and inviting her in. "I was just jokin' around with you, kiddo… Now come on in before the tea gets cold."

After recounting everything that day from the moment she punched out Reno to the current second, Cid laughed heartily. "You knocked him out? Atta girl!!"

"Cid! This is serious!" It both frustrated and amused her to no end that Cid had the ability to take hold of the funniest part of any given story and cling to it until the end. "I. Kissed. Him. I came here for guidance, so… guide me!"

Cid stared at her for a time, the humor gone from his eyes as he tried to think. She was obviously mad at herself for letting her guard down around someone so… questionable. He wasn't exactly pleased with her, but at least she was showing some remorse for her actions. But what should she do? The question lingered in his mind. He wasn't exactly experienced with the "forbidden love" type scenario, but as her paternal figure, he had to do his best. "You obviously have some sort of physical attraction to him…"

Suzanne stared at him, a quirk in her brow. "Duh. If he was some old man, I don't think I would have done what I did… No offense." She added after a second.

There was another silence as the gears in Cid's head turned as he tried to process everything. "I'm not that old, you know…" She shrugged indifferently. "Do you really want my opinion?"

"Yes! Yes! Tell me quick!"

"…Start taking your meds again…" An awkward pause lingered in the room before Cid started laughing again. ((Author's Note: That was the last mention, I swear.))

Suzanne tried to yell over his guffawing. "That's not funny, you old coot!!"

Cid wiped a tear from his eye. "Don't be a baby, it was hilarious. So my real opinion?" She stared at him, a look of skepticism piercing into his guts. "Don't give me that face, or I won't help you at all." She bit her lip and distorted her face until the look was gone (though it was replaced with a face that rivaled Quasimodo's.) Cid snorted at the sight and tried pathetically to cover it with a loud "A-HEM!!". "There's a few options, kiddo. Since Shin-Ra is primarily comprised of bastards, and you can't legally tell him to leave, you can pretend it didn't happen, as long as you watch yourself from now on; you can take Sean, grab some things, and stay here until they leave, or," Cid frowned and shut his eyes "you can go about your merry way and fuck him for all I care."

"Um… What was that last one?" ((Author's Note: GASP!! CID!! You're swearing wasn't beeped out?! I know it's in his character to have a lot of "&" and "#&" buuuut, I'm lazy right now. I think I'll stop beeping it out altogether… I dunno. What do YOU think?? (Who am I TALKING to??)))

Cid rolled his eyes. "Look, darlin', I'm not your dad, as much as I may act like it. If I don't approve of something, that doesn't mean the decision isn't yours. What you do is ultimately up to one person, and that person is you. You kissed him, you're the one who has to deal with the consequences." Cid moved over to the couch she was seated on and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just do what you feel is right. Chin up!" He took her chin in his free hand and made her look at him. "You're a big girl. A big girl who can knock out trained Shin-Ra employees, to boot. You can handle yourself."

Suzanne smiled and stood. "Thanks Cid! I know just what to do!" She proudly walked out the front door, down the walk and back to her house, but once there, she sat on the stoop. "Well that was a big waste of time…" Cid was supposed to _help_ her. Not tell her to decide for herself. She sighed and leaned against the door.

* * *

Reno sat at the edge of his bed staring blankly across the room, an unlit cigarette between his lips. Since she'd run off screaming, he'd been in this exact position; lighter posed, ready to light up his cig, ready to slow his mind down, ready to stop the flurry of thoughts and questions in his head, ready to numb himself up reeeal good. But the fact was, he still hadn't lit up. All his focus had gone to just flicking open the Zippo, putting the flame to the end of his cigarette, and taking a nice, long drag. He hadn't yet managed to accomplish the first step. For what must have been the 50th time, he flicked open the tiny metal object, drew it closer, closer… and closed it up again. He glared at it for a moment before hurling it across the room. "Damn it!" He scratched his head. "Fucking no-smoking rule…" He just sat for a while, letting the thoughts take all of his focus back. It was her. She was the cause of all of this… He couldn't figure out the girl. He counted the things that had happened before she ran off on his fingers like trying to remember the remaining assembly steps to some sort of manly thing. ((Author's Note: I'm tired and uncreative right now. Besides… if Reno was trying to make a comparison on his own, I'm sure he'd be uncreative too.))

"So she punched me. Then she took me home. Then she was nice. Then she was mad… wait… that's not right… first I jumped her, _then_ she was mad… then she was nice to the kid, then she was mean to me, then we fought, and then I kissed her… She seemed okay with that, but then she ran off screaming." He crossed his arms, trying to digest all of this before thinking aloud. "Great… I'm living with a lunatic… I guess there's only one thing to do…" He stood up, grabbed his lighter and studied it for a moment. "Go to the bar, and tell everyone about it in a drunken stupor…" He paused for a moment longer. "That sounds about right." With those words uttered, he sauntered downstairs and opened the front door. Suzanne fell over backwards at his feet. She seemed incredibly… not ready to look at him, judging by the blush and the huge eyes. Reno looked at her only briefly before stepping over her and stopping on the stoop for a moment to light up. He took the long drag he'd been craving, and mumbled "Goin' to the bar" without turning.

* * *

Suzanne had gone back inside after Reno left to the bar (likely to get drunk off his ass and use the excuse to climb into bed with her again) and used the opportunity to pretend like he had never come into town. She cleaned up the house, she called Sean home, she made dinner, she put him to bed. She showered, she put on her favorite pajamas, she read a girly magazine, she ate a late-night snack. And finally, she went to bed. But it's not like she was going to sleep any time soon… Now that she wasn't doing anything to preoccupy her, her mind drifted back to… _him_… and… _that thing she did_… She shut her eyes tight, trying to block it out. '_It didn't happen it didn't happen it didn't happen. Nothing has changed._' Her eyes snapped open when the front door slammed shut. She quirked an eyebrow. This seemed… familiar. A loud thud came from downstairs, followed by a ridiculous giggle. Some mumbling. She relaxed a little. '_He's talking to himself_...' Suzanne snuggled a little deeper into her blankets and shut her eyes again.

CRASH!

She was up again, wide-eyed.

"Oops… ha ha ha..."

The sound of his voice drifted up the stairs into her room, and she slapped her forehead. "I swear, if my house isn't in shambles by the time he leaves it'll be a miracle." A metallic click told her that her door had been opened. She looked up and there he was, leaning against the doorframe staring at her, much like he had been the second night. As if on auto-pilot, her hands raised defensively. "We're not doing this again, Reno." He didn't seem to hear her as he stumbled over to the bed and collapsed on top of her, tugging sloppily at her clothes. She stared at him for a moment, with eyes that seemed to be screaming '_are you deaf?!_'

Her teeth gritted, her hand balled into a fist… "I… Said… NO!!" The last word was shouted and paired with a hard hook to the red-head's jaw. Reno was flung off the bed to the floor, where he lay still for a moment before struggling to sit. Suzanne watched, confused, as he removed a notebook from his pocket, made a mark, and collapsed again in a heap. She stared for a moment longer, waiting for him to make his next move, but after only a short time, a steady snore sounded from the floor. She lay down in her bed and stared at the ceiling. '_He could get back up any time now_.' "Now I'm REALLY not going to be able to sleep…"

* * *

Hours later, Reno awoke, still on the cold hardwood floors of… NOT his room. He sat up and scratched his pulsing head. "Shit… Not again…" He looked around through half-lidded eyes, feeling like if he opened them anymore his head would split in half. He knew what happened the previous night up until about half an hour into the bar scene. Frustration, drinking, drinking, more drinking… what after that? He guessed he probably drank more, judging from his hangover. But then? He looked around again. At least he was on the floor this time… He caught sight of his notebook resting in his hand and eyed the extra tally. "Maybe the night wasn't as worthless as I thought…"

He stood up, as though completely rejuvenated, stretched and went downstairs with a hop and a skip in his step. If he has been anywhere else, he may have even added a little 'tra la la' as he went. When he got to the last step, his eyes fell over to Suzanne. He could only see the back of her, but she didn't look so mad. Maybe a little intense, but not mad… "Honey! I'm home!" He said cheerfully, like in an old sitcom. There was no response, but he didn't seem to notice. He wandered into the dining room and caught a whiff of something wonderful. "Smells good! What's for breakfast?"

She whirled on him and threw some sort of pastry his way, full force. "PANCAKES!!" Not only were her eyes bloodshot from the five minutes of sleep, but they had some sort of crazed look to them. Reno, knocked to his ass, peeled the pancake from his face and looked up at Suzanne, now looming over him with a battle aura that would make grown men cower. "III HOPE YOU ENJOYYY..."

Reno was surprisingly unfazed by this. "As delicious as they look, I don't think death by pancake would be very honorable or manly. Maybe put them on a plate next time?" he suggested. Suzanne grabbed his collar and pulled him up, pressing him against the wall. "Isn't it a bit early for this kind of thing? Usually it's reserved for night-time when the kid's asleep."

"If you ever… EVER go into my room again, drunk or not…" She pointed a finger right between his eyes. "DEATH!" Reno looked down.

"You'd be much more convincing if my feet weren't still touching the ground." She looked down, the fury not leaving here eyes. There were his feet, planted on the ground as though he was standing normally.

"I hate you so much sometimes…" She released him. "Now go to work."

Reno looked at the clock briefly. "Why?"

"It's past noon, and I don't want you here all day!"

He curled up on the ground, clutching his stomach. "But I don't feel so good. My stomach hurts and I think I have a temperature. Maybe it's the fluuu."

"What are you, five?"

"I'm asked that a lot…"

She frowned. "OUT!" Reno stood, putting one hand in his pocket and holding the pancake with the other.

"Fine… hardass…" He mumbled.

"What was that?!"

"Oh no!! I'm late!! I have to go, bye!" He ran though the door laughing and munching on his pancake, and she had to wonder how it was that no one had killed him yet.

"Jackass…"

Note: Not amazing, but I hope you enjoyed! I kinda know what's going to happen in the story now, so hopefully I'll write more. :D


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: LOLERSK8S

P.S. I'm really in the mood to write. But it's kind of a weird mood… A kinda… moody-swingy mood. HEY!! Maybe I'M bi-polar TOO!! When I got to work today, I got all depressed for no reason. It was really bad. It slowed me down a lot, etc. Maybe I was just sad to leave this story. Maybe I just wanted to get back to WRITING DIS SHIIIIT!!

P.P.S. This chapter's going to end on kind of a sad not-random-insult-to-Reno note.

P.P.P.S. Very very slight lime warning. Nothing too bad, but I figured I'd slap this warning on it just in case. :)

Chapter 4

It had been about a week since that day, and Reno had been busy keeping up a steady flow of drunken late-night visits, sexual innuendo in the mornings, and merciless flirting the rest of the day (even more so when Sean was around to add some extra tension). The reason? His list. He was set on filling that little page with tally marks. So he had to skip his shift every now and again. No big deal. Not in his book anyway. Tseng had scolded him about 'being late' and 'goofing off', but Reno was used to it. Tseng's voice was like a ripple in the ocean to him. Easily overlooked. But it would all end soon, for the page was almost full!

The vivacious redhead eyed the pocket notebook with pride. He didn't know he was capable of making someone so angry! As he slipped it back into his pocket, the barkeep noticed him. "Evenin', Reno. What can I do you for? The usual?"

"You got it, Sam." Sam nodded and left briefly, returning with ten shots of Reno's choice drink. Whiskey. He loved the smell, the taste, the sound of the word… "Whiskey" even sounded manly, and _that_ was his kind of drink… After examining the first shot lovingly, he downed it in one gulp. It burned, but it was a good kind of burn. A sigh of content left him before he continued.

* * *

Suzanne sat at the table, clutching a coffee cup in her trembling hands. That dumbass crawled into bed with her again, since he was drunk off his ass… again… and looking at how her week had been going, he was probably going to come down… now. Lo and behold, footsteps on the staircase assured her of his arrival. But it wasn't as though that was a good thing. She bristled at his presence, already on guard, prepared with a retort for whatever he had to throw her way. He grabbed some coffee for himself and sat across from her silently, gulping it down. He seemed to be preparing for some sort of attack himself. He finished his cup, stood, and made a move to lean against the table next to her. "C'mon upstairs, we should have sex." Suzanne was on guard, prepared with a retort for whatever he had to throw her way… except that. Luckily, there was only a brief pause before her auto-pilot flipped on and she splashed her hot coffee all over him.

But it was exactly what Reno had been waiting for. She was just about to find that she didn't win the battle as she had thought, but lost it… miserably… the lanky Turk withdrew a little notebook that she had seen him with quite a bit as of late. He flipped it open with an impish grin, and made a single, tiny mark at the bottom of the page. "Aaand… one hundred. You owe me something special, Sweetcheeks." It was only then that she realized what exactly he'd been keeping track of… and why… "Now… I'll repeat my suggestion, and this time, you'll kindly nod and follow me up. Now…" He leaned down, piercing her eyes with his sharp blues. "C'mon upstairs, we should have sex."

Suzanne was only intimidated for a moment longer before giving him a cynical stare. "You're kidding yourself if you think I'll agree to that..."

Reno's face fell, and his shoulders slumped. "But… you've been beating the hell out of me! You owe me _something_!"

"Yeah. Fine. 'I owe you something', but it's not going to be _that_ or anything like _that_. Think of something else that isn't so demanding on my sanity." She got up to leave the room, hoping this would buy her some time, maybe even give her a day's peace. Reno seemed like the type who would think of nothing but sex, so with hope, this would be a hard task for him to accomplish. But Suzanne failed to recall the things he loved along with sex…

"Fine, then how about this?" She stopped mid stride and turned her head slowly to look back at him. "You go drinking with me tonight." She had forgotten about his drinking.

There was a long pause before she answered. Truth be told, she didn't mind the idea of going to the bar. She hadn't been there in quite a while, and there were definitely times when she wanted nothing more than to be there, drinking her life away and spilling all her troubles to whoever would listen. But the only problem was that she was afraid of making it a habit again. It wasn't exactly a good habit to have when raising a kid. Her eyes drifted to the icy blues of the redhead, and they showed an emotion that surprised her. Pleading. Not blind lust, not a general look of idiocy, but a burning hope flaring into her own two blue orbs. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, hoping the look would go away. She slowly opened them and… the look had gotten even worse.

"Okay!! Just… stop giving me that look!"

He blinked. "What look?"

"Jeez… never mind. Look, I'll arrange for Sean to stay at a friends house, and…" She gulped. "We'll meet at 7 tonight."

He smiled

She grimaced, and proceeded to beat her head against the wall in agonizing frustration.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it…" She turned her gaze back to him. Did he feel bad for what he'd done…? "You won't be able to come if you're passed out!"

She frowned. '_Bastard…_' She pushed past him and headed for the door. "I'm going to work. I'll meet you at 7 p.m. sharp. I'll be expecting you to be on time tonight. If you're more than five minutes late, I'm leaving." With that said, she stormed out the door and slammed it shut behind her.

Reno smirked cheerily. "She digs me…"

* * *

"I expected him to just make another stupid innuendo like he always does…"

"Nuts!"

"Huh?"

"Those nuts next to you! Like 'nuts and bolts' nuts. I need 'em."

"Oh…" Suzanne picked up the brown paper bag next to her and handed it over to her smoking, swearing father figure. "Like I was saying though… he just outright _asked_ me for sex today…"

"Bastard…" Cid mumbled the curse from under the plane. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was just that she'd been talking about him ever since he showed up in town. He just wasn't as surprised by the Turk's actions anymore.

"I told him no."

"Good."

"But then he whipped out this little book full of tally marks and told me I owed him for all the times I beat him up. Then he asked me again."

Cid crawled out from under his plane. "You didn't agree, did you?!"

She blushed furiously. "Well I was here on time, wasn't I?" It was times like these when he seemed more like a father than ever; worrying about her, and showing it in the strangest way possible. By way of angry questions. "Gawd, what kind of a person do you think I am?" She folded her arms and frowned for a moment. "Since I said no, he asked me to go to the bar with him instead. And I said yes."

"Just don't make a habit out of it… you know how you are when you're drunk…"

"Shaddup!! You look really young when you're blurry!"

Cid didn't even try to hide his laughter. "Just tell me if you plan on going to the bar so I'll know when to not be there."

"In any case, I still have Sean to worry about, so this is like a one time thing, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." He smiled as he started to squirm back under the Tiny Bronco. "Just be careful tonight."

* * *

Suzanne sat in the bar, hardly expecting Reno to come within the time limit she had given him. No. More like _hoping _Reno wouldn't come within the time limit she had given him. She checked her watch. '_Only two more minutes of this, and I'm home free…_'. Sam the barkeep offered her a brew and she raised her hand, turning it down. She sighed, checking her watch for the 5th time in 30 seconds. The sound of a jingle bell took her attention to the door, where she saw… _him_. She went through the entire Kübler-Ross five stages of grief before she even breathed, much less said anything. Finally, she sputtered "You're _here_."

Reno smirked, hangs in pocket, cigarette poking between his lips. "I never stand up a lady." He hopped into the seat next to her. "Sam, the usual, along with whatever this fine example of a woman asks for."

The barkeep looked to Suzanne. "The usual?"

She leaned her elbows on the counter. "If you would."

Sam laughed. "Just don't go overboard, alright? You know what happens!"

The brunette woman scowled. "That's not going to happen tonight, alright?"

Reno turned, leaning his cheek on his hand. "'The usual', eh? Bit of a drinker, girly?"

She sighed. "A few years back, yeah." Sam brought Reno his 10 shots of whiskey, and set down a large bottle of Raspberry Liqueur and a glass in front of Suzanne.

"Don't drink too much. I don't want to be 'That bar where that girl died of alcohol poisoning'."

She opened the bottle and filled the glass. "You got it."

Reno looked at the colored liquid. "You're going to drink _that_ girly shit?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Better than the shit _you're_ drinking… Stronger, and it tastes better to boot." She took a swig, and he downed his ceremonial first glass.

* * *

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! You are soooo FUNNY!" Suzanne grabbed his arm. "Listen! Listen… you should do stand-up…"

Reno giggled, draping his arm around her shoulder. "Ya think slow?" He looked puzzled for a moment. "You think… slow?" He snorted. "That wasn't right! AH HA HA HIC!"

Suzanne laughed right along with him, but trailed off after a moment, frowning. "Shit…"

Reno stopped laughing abruptly. "Wazzat?"

"I think I'm sobering up a little bit!"

Drunken concern spread across him face. "Quick!" He made a grab for one of the remaining shots and missed. "Damn it… stop moving… GOTCHA!" He held it up too close to her face. "Quick! Drink it quick!"

She took it with a slurred "okay" and downed it. She set the glass down and grimaced. "It tastes like blue… something…" A pause, and the two burst into laughter. "Sam, can we get some more of the blue stuff?"

The barkeep leaned against the counter, eyeing the two. "Actually, you two should probably go home… You've had enough… _more_ than enough."

They let out a long "awwww" in unison, making pouty faces. After a moment, Reno staggered to his feet. "Well, Ai'll jus take this ladly home then…" He hiccupped and held out a hand to her. She took it, stood, and promptly fell on her ass.

"OOPS! Hee hee hee…" She stood, stumbling a little and took hold of Reno's waist. He put his arm back around her and they tottered towards the door.

"See you toomarrow, Sham…" Sam quirked a brow and waved a little.

The pair wavered back and forth down the street until they reached the house. Reno stepped ahead to open the door when his foot caught a crack. He stumbled forward towards the door and used what little ability he had left to react to such things to turn and slam his back into the hard wood, rather than his face. "Whoo… That was a close-" His words were cut off as Suzanne staggered forward and pressed her lips to his, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She pulled away giggling and felt around for the doorknob. Her fingers slipped around and clutched the handle, turning it and WHUMP!

The giddy drunken brunette rolled off of the giddy drunken redhead and slowly got back to a standing position. She pulled at his arm, laughing and telling him to follow in a sing-song voice.

* * *

Suzanne awoke much later than usual. She studied her surroundings through squinted eyes. Pain. Pain was the only way of describing the way she felt. Pain all over, but mostly in her head. Her slit eyes slowly opened a bit more as she tried to sort things out. The first thing she noticed when she was slightly more conscious was her lack of clothes. The second was the smell of smoke. She turned slowly when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. There he was, sitting in bed next to her in the nude, cigarette sitting between his lips, and in a Zen-like state of calm. She stared for a time, not sure whether she should say something, and finally settled for taking the cigarette from him. Rather than throwing it out, however, she settled it between her lips and inhaled deeply. She handed his cancer-stick back to him, blowing smoke as she did so. He was the first to speak.

"Not new to smoking either, are you?"

"I quit when my parents died."

"Same with drinking?"

"Yeah…" There was another empty pause. "Did I… um…"

Reno watched through cool eyes as her face grew red and she fiddled with the sheets. '_She's so cute…_' He grimaced momentarily at the word choice in his internal dialogue. "Did you…" he began, trying to finish her sentence. "…enjoy it?" She nodded, not looking at him. "Well… let's find out." He put his cigarette back in its rightful place in his mouth, and reached over. He rest his hand against her stomach briefly before trailing down further… further… before she had time to react, he had his index finger inside her. She blushed even deeper and bit her lip, suppressing a moan. He knew that it was not a good time to be playing with her, but he wasn't the kind of guy to act on logic. He gently rubbed his finger against the slick walls inside juuust until she instinctively spread her legs, and then he removed his hand. She sighed in a mixture of frustration and relief as he studied his findings. "Oh."

She finally looked at him. "'Oh' what?"

"Well…" He mumbled through his cigarette, blowing smoke out from between his lips as he spoke. "Either you're on your period, or you're a virgin- excuse me, _were_ a virgin. See?" He showed her his finger, coated with a clear goo and streaked with red. She let out a hiss of breath and glared. "From you're reaction, I'd say it was the latter. Good news is, you seemed to have had a good time last night."

She continued frowning for a moment before sitting up. It was only then that she realized just how much her head ached. It felt like a brick was strapped to her skull, and it didn't help that she was trying to mentally sort things out. She swayed a little from the feeling until firm hands took hold of her shoulders. "Hey now, hold up. You were pretty shit-faced last night, lay back down. Hey!" She swatted his hands away and struggled to her feet.

"I'm taking a shower." He reached after her as she left the room, words failing him. She walked in the bathroom, shut the door, and stood for a moment. Her eyes drifted towards the mirror. There she saw the source of the rest of her physical pain. Bruises, hickeys, bite-marks, scratch-marks, and from the look of it, her hair had been pulled quite a bit as well. The mirror perfectly reflected the stony emotionless look in her eyes. The blue marbles burned as a warm, salty liquid began dripping from them. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she wiped them away. Looking away from the mirror, she turned on the shower. Hot. The moment she got in, she grabbed the luffa and started scrubbing. She could feel him all over her, every inch that he had touched. Straining to remember only brought her flashes of blind sex, tangled sheets and ecstasy. It wasn't how she wanted to remember it. She knew that she loved every moment of the previous night… but she wished that she hadn't. She raked her brain for a good reason to be mad at him over and over, and came up empty handed every time. She grit her teeth and hissed as she finally became aware of the pain in her arm. Her eyes darted to the spot she was scrubbing, now red and raw. She shakily dropped the luffa, fell to her knees and wept. She still felt him.

* * *

Reno held his position on the bed, finishing his smoke. He figured at this point in time, it wouldn't be a good idea to move from his spot on the bed. She was fragile. He may not have been the brightest when it came to knowing other people's limits, but he wasn't completely in the dark. She wanted him to be waiting right where she left him. Waiting to be judged. In the time he had until her return, he started thinking. He couldn't quite decide if he regretted what had happened or not. On the one hand, he had gotten to sleep with a very, _very_ attractive woman. On the other hand, he was piss drunk, so he couldn't remember much, he had taken her virginity, and the way he saw it, left some mental scars. That, and he had bruised her up pretty badly. Luckily for him, she hadn't seemed to notice while still in the same room as him. "Fuck…" he muttered aloud when he saw how little he had left to smoke. Good ol' cancer-sticks. They were just about always there for him (except for when he ran out, but usually, he kept a few packs on him.) He reached down, rummaging in his pants pockets for the pack. Before he found it, an extra pair of hands brushed his out of the way, finding the pack along with his trusty zippo. Reno looked up to see her. Suzanne. The only woman he had ever felt an ounce of regret for fucking.

She pulled out a smoke, lit it, and tossed the little box of Malboros and the lighter to him. As she took a long drag and let the smoke escape through her perfect lips, he couldn't help but to admire her. Standing there in the nude, bruised, dripping wet, smoke all around, stripes of sunlight plastered across her… she was like a fallen angel of some kind. That thought disappeared as her stony hues blinked to look his way and cold words oozed from her mouth. "I want you to leave."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: STUFF. One thing I will say. I don't own Silly Bananas. Yes, they're real. Yes, they're amazing. No, they aren't mine unless I buy a jar for myself. They come in pink, orange, yellow, green, purple, and blue, and they're delicious. If only I'd thought of them first…

P.S. For those of you who like this story, I wrote a Oneshot spinoff called "I Trust You". Cid's the main character, and it takes place three years before "Suzanne". There's drunkenness, some almost-sex, and the blossoming of a new friendship. I'm proud of it (of course, it's my first Oneshot, and I'll probably read it in a few years and say "BLEAH!".) But read it anyway. Reviews are much appreciated!

Chapter 5

Reno was cold, pissed off, and tired. He had vented some to Cid, the old head of the Space Program, but that didn't change the fact that he had been sleeping outside next to the bar for several days. He still didn't understand why Suzanne ('that harpy', he called her when talking about her.) had kicked him out. The geezer had told him she was just embarrassed, that she was always that way when she was drunk, that she 'never wanted to go through that again'. But now, because of her, he was sleeping against a cold, hard brick wall every night. He didn't deserve that… did he? Sure, he was a lech. Sure, he had a sleazy occupation. Sure, he'd gotten drunk and crawled into bed with her multiple times. Sure he did it all just to make her mad so he could get something from her out of it. Sure it inevitably led to them having drunken sex that she wouldn't have agreed to otherwise. But it _wasn't that bad_, was it? He supposed she believed it to be, or he wouldn't be in this position. This uncomfortable sitting position against a wall that he called 'bed'.

That morning, he was woken up not by the sun, or his comrades, but by a crunching sound. He peeled his eyes open, and looked around with blurred vision to find the source of the noise. Finally, he laid his eyes on Sean. They both stared at each other for a while, Reno trying to blink the sleep from his eyes, Sean munching on something from a jar. The Turk was the first to speak. "You're the kid…" Sean just stared at him, Reno stared back, puzzled. "What are you eating?"

The boy grinned, obviously proud of his treasure. "Silly Bananas." He held out his hand, showing Reno the little banana-shaped crunchy candies. Yellow seemed to be the least common color in the pile. "Want some?" Reno stared at the jumble of colors in the child's hand.

"… Sure, kid." Sean gave him the handful that he held and reached back into the jar. The redhead popped a few in his mouth. They were indeed crunchy, but the taste was as artificial as they come. "It tastes like… a rainbow." The kid beamed at him before sitting down next to him, looking up at him as he ate his Silly Bananas.

"Why aren't you home anymore?" He asked. Reno had to chuckled. The kid had called it 'home', like it was his home as well. It was a funny thought. He hadn't had a real home for a long time… Sure, he had an apartment, but he hardly considered that an actual _home_. It was more like a place to sleep when he happened to be around, or a place to get drunk when he was upset about something. It was far from being his 'home'.

"Your sis isn't too happy with me right now… I did something bad, so she nicely asked me to go." That was an understatement. He had never even thought the words 'I want you to leave' could be so heartless and piercing. People had spoken to him crossly before for various stunts he'd pulled, and it never affected him. Maybe he rethought things once in a while, but emotionally, he was untouchable. Except for a few mornings ago, that is. Even at that point, sitting with one of the most optimistic damn kids in the world and eating rainbow colored, banana-shaped candy, the memory of her face paired with those words cut him deep.

"You wanna come over?" Obviously, the kid hadn't been listening. "Suzy's not home, and she never lets me play the Samwich Game when she's around." Reno looked at the child, a quirk in his brow.

"The… Sandwich Game?" He silently wondered what the hell it could be.

"She says it's bad for me, but it's fun!"

Reno smirked. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but I win at any game involving food." He didn't know why he had said it when he still didn't even know what it was, but the kid seemed so desperate to be his friend. He would never admit it in public, but the boy's charm defeated him.

Sean stood, Silly Bananas in tow and a huge grin on his face. "Well, come on, then! I'll teach you how to play!" Reno stood drowsily, following the child back to 'home'.

* * *

"Alright, kid. What do you got for me?" Reno looked over at the sandwich that the child had prepared, before slapping the final piece of bread on his own work.

"Pickles, chocolate sauce, and these things that I found outside." Sean opened the sandwich slightly to show the Turk the cigarette butts. He grimaced. "What did you make, Mr. Reno?"

"For you? I've got peanut butter and tunafish."

The kid smiled triumphantly. "Is that the best you can do!"

"... with brussel sprouts."

"Bleah!" They stared each other down for a moment. Finally, Reno slid the sandwich he had prepared towards the boy, and the boy mimicked his action. They picked up their sandwiches, drawing them near their mouths.

Before taking a bite, Reno glanced over. "I'll warn you, kid. I'm gonna win this round." Sean just smirked. They each opened their mouths wide, drawing the concoctions closer... closer...

The front door swung open, Suzanne humming as she tossed her keys on the table. "Sean, I'm..." She trailed off when she caught sight of the redhead. Her eyes slowly turned from his face, to the sandwich in his hand, cigarette butts sticking out of the sides. "You let him play the _Sandwich Game_!"

Before Reno could even_ begin_ to defend himself, Sean had stepped up, a look of ferocity in his eyes. "Don't yell at him! He's my friend! This was my idea, so if you get mad at someone, yell at me!" She stepped back, taken off guard by her little brother's outburst. How was she supposed to respond to that? Eventually, she sighed, defeated.

" Reno, would you please leave?" She was surprisingly calm when she spoke to him, and her entire face held that calm as she turned back to Sean. "Listen… I asked him to leave for a good reason." Reno stood, and began to walk out. He was never really one to eavesdrop, especially on family matters like the one she was about to bring up, but… something stopped him, just outside the door. He left it open a crack, and peeked in, ears perked up and ready to hear what she had to say about him. "He… He's not really a good guy, Sean."

"You won't even give him a chance!"

"Sean! He's been questionable ever since he showed up, and a few days ago, he proved to me that he has no morals. We don't need someone like that here."

"But he didn't _do_ anything!"

"He just! But! I! … GAAH! GO TO BED!"

"But it's only two o'clock."

"Then just go. I can't deal with you right now." She put a hand to her forehead. Something was different, he noted. She was less loud, and more passive, somehow.

His train of thought was interrupted as Sean let out a loud "hmph!" and stomped out the door past Reno. Before the Turk could say a word, the boy started. "She never lets me do anything fun."

"Unfortunately, she's right. I'm not really a good guy."

"I know! I'll sneak you in and you can live in my room!" Reno cocked a brow. Was this kid hearing him? Was the Turk actually just moving his lips, pretending to talk? "Now come on! I have some ideas!"

* * *

Sean stared down at Reno from his window. Reno scratched his head. "Are you sure this'll work?"

"Of course it will! I've seen other people do it."

Reno stared at the rope made of sheet in front of him. They had already made five failed attempts at getting him inside, and that was _before _Sean had gone briefly to dinner. "What, in cartoons?" His eyes looked up to the second story window with the kid peeking out of it expectantly. He sighed. Sean really really wanted to help him get a roof over his head again, even if the plans were a little ridiculous and childish. After only a moment more of hesitation, he took hold of the rope. "You sure it's sturdy?"

"Yep!"

"I'm taking your word for it now…" Reno placed a foot on the side of the house and began to pull himself up. The moment both feet were off the ground, he fell hard on his back, the rope falling from the window on top of him. "Uuuuhhgg…"

"What happened?"

Reno slowly pushed himself up, groaning. "What did you do? Forget to tie it to something?"

"Oh yeah……"

Reno looked up to the sound of footsteps. His eyes slowly traveled up to meet the face of Suzanne, who from his current position, looked about eleven feet tall. "Eep!"

"Yeah." She said firmly. "'Eep.'"

Reno _did_ want to get on her good side. He _desperately_ wanted her to forgive him. He _needed_ her to take him in again… And breaking into her house wasn't exactly the best way to go about regaining her trust (or what little trust she had in him before.) He wanted to say "I'm sorry for everything I've done to you! For hurting you and tricking you and hitting on you and taking advantage of you! Please please please FORGIVE ME!" And then he could proceed with the groveling, and she would forgive him and let him back into her house. But he didn't. He wasn't exactly used to admitting fault, so all he managed to come out with was "Uuuuh…"

She grit her teeth and rolled her eyes, letting out and exasperated growl. "You're _impossible_." She hissed. "Just get out of here." There was a surprising lack of sheer anger in her tone, and an even more surprising amount of hurt in her eyes. He looked at her, puzzled.

"Hey!" Suzanne looked just as surprised as Reno as they both looked up. Sean had his entire torso out the window, frowning down at his sister. "You said I could have a friend stay the night!"

Her eyes widened, as a jolting realization hit her in the face. She had been tricked. By a ten-year-old. "You didn't say it was HIM!" She said, pointing a finger down at Reno.

"But you _promiiisssed_! And you always say that you shouldn't break your promises!"

Suzanne's entire face drooped a little. The kid had actually won an argument before it actually started. She frowned. Technically, she was his guardian, but it was moments like these when she was reminded that he was her sibling. "You should be a politician, Sean." And then she turned, ever so slowly, to look down upon the Turk, the light from Sean's window casting an eerie glow around her, leaving most of her cold features in shadow. "And you." Reno managed another 'eep'. "You can stay. But keep away from me." She turned curtly and walked back into the house.

Reno watched silently for a moment, trying to comprehend just how upset she was.

"…YAAAAY!" Sean shouted from his window. "Come on in!"

The redhead stood, a little disoriented and walked towards the front door. He had just been caught, dealt with and then invited inside in what couldn't have been more than a minute. It was dizzying.

* * *

After a few awkward silences, a sandwich, and a brief hunt for a sleeping bag, Reno was upstairs with Sean. It was, after all, a sleepover. He had no doubt Suzanne would kick him right back to the streets if he tried taking the guestroom. So now he was settled on the ground with Suzanne's old pony sleeping bag (they couldn't find either of the parent's sleeping bags) next to Sean, who was happily lying in his rocket ship sleeping bag. Reno figured that it was better sleeping on some kid's floor that outside again. At least he had a roof over his head.

Reno stared at the ceiling as Sean recounted more stories of him and his friends. Unfortunately for the child, he wasn't really interested in that kind of thing. Ever since he got kicked out, he'd been furiously trying to find something he could do to make the youngster's older sister forgive him. "Mr. Reno?"

Reno blinked and looked over at the child, tuning back into what he was saying. "You don't have to call me 'Mister', you know…"

"Oh, okay. Reno?"

He smirked. "Yeah, kid?"

"Do you like my sister?"

That was a good question. Reno hadn't yet been able to figure out that answer himself. She was certainly the first woman who ever made him so anxious, so in need of approval. Whenever she approached him, he could feel his mouth go a little bit dry and he always felt kind of sweaty. And once she left, he always felt like he'd made a fool of himself. (Of course it was never like that when _he_ approached _her_. He was prepared, then.) Whenever that happened, he made damn sure not to let any of that fear show, but he couldn't deny the fact that she made him… well… self-conscious. Which was new to him. Usually, he didn't give a flying fuck what image he had. But around her… it was different. He wanted to be with her all the time. Even if he was annoying the shit out of her, and was getting to the point of fearing for his life, he would still stick around just to see her and be near her.

He couldn't remember having a crush on a girl. The girls always liked him, so he would just take whichever one was closest. But the way he felt around Suzanne was different from anything he'd ever felt before. She wasn't a skinny ditz like the rest of the girls in upper Midgar. She was more emotionally driven. More commanding. (More insane, but he would never tell her that.) More… difficult. Maybe that was her main draw. So far, she was the only woman he'd encountered who he wanted, but couldn't really have. "Can you keep a secret?"

Sean looked at him skeptically. "Even if I couldn't, who would I tell?"

Reno cocked a brow. "Smartass… Just don't tell your sister. And don't tell her I swore around you."

"I won't."

"Good kid." The redhead leaned back and stared at the ceiling again. "Honestly, it's hard to say… I've never liked anyone like that before. But until I know better, I'll say yes."

"HA!" Sean leaped up triumphantly, standing with his hands on his hips in his pajamas. "I _knew _it!"

Reno sat up, startled by the kid's sudden outburst. "Hey, pipe down, willya?" He glanced behind him at the sound of footsteps and saw a brief glimpse of a figure moving away from the door. While the child continued celebrating with his 'I knew it' dance, Reno ran a hand down his face. "Shit…"

* * *

The room was pitch black, and Reno still couldn't sleep. He looked at the glowing hands on the clock. 1 a.m. He sighed. Usually, he had so much alcohol in him that it was easy to sleep, but now… being sober, it didn't work so well. He sat up, slipped his shirt on (he'd been simply taking off his jacket and shirt and going to sleep lately.) and stood. If he wasn't going to sleep, there was no real point in lying in bed doing nothing. He left the room and headed downstairs for a cold glass of water.

He was halfway to the kitchen when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. There was Suzanne, sitting quietly on the couch, looking at him with red eyes. He turned around to go back. "Sorry…" He mumbled. She had told him to stay away, and she didn't look like she was in the mood to deal with him.

"Wait." Reno stopped. It was a bit of a surprise, really. He hadn't expected her to want to say anything to him. "You can stay…" He opened his mouth to speak, but then decided against it, knowing his track record of royally pissing people off. He walked into the kitchen and got his water, gulping it down. After he'd emptied the glass, he stared at it for a moment before turning his eyes back to Suzanne. She was still sitting on the couch, staring ahead into space.

There was a brief time when he simply stared, turning over the idea of sitting with her and having a little chat. A _real_ chat, instead of the usual flirting and basically pointless commands (since she never listened to him anyway). The only thing that held him back was that he wasn't usually the type to sit and listen to someone's problems without making any wisecracks. After studying the expression on her face for a moment longer, he sat beside her. "Hey." _'Hey'?_ He pondered. _THAT'S the best I can come up with?_

But it was enough to help her open up a little. After all, deep down, she was basically like any other girl. She only really wanted someone to talk to. "Hi." The word was barely audible. Whispered in a breath. It was the quietest Reno could ever remember her being.

"What's wrong?" He made the mistake of sighing before asking. It made him sound almost annoyed that she was depressed. He was a little awkward about the whole situation, truth be told. He was about to apologize when she continued.

"Today's the day my parents died…"

There was a long pause. How was he supposed to respond to THAT? After noticing the silence that he had accidentally created, he mumbled "Oh." in hopes that she might continue, and he wouldn't have to come up with anything charming and winning to say just yet.

"I feel like I'm the only one who cares." Her voice cracked slightly on the last word, and it stabbed him right in the heart. He couldn't remember his mother's face, and his dad was like a blur in his mind. What could he say? What could he possibly say to make her feel better?

"How long ago was it?"

"Three years…" Reno was silent again, at a loss for words. "And you know? I just know they'd be ashamed of me… I can't look after Sean worth a damn. You were right… He's not mine. No matter how hard I try to act like it, I'm _not_ his mother… I'm _not_…" Her voice started sounding strangely constrained, her lower lip trembled. "I'm still just his sister. I still get in useless arguments and… I just…" She frowned as if she were glaring down at the big dewy tears forming in her eyes. "I wish they were here." She choked out the last word, and hunched forward, sobbing.

This was definitely a foreign experience to him. He wasn't usually the guy that girls, or _anyone_ for that matter, spilled their guts to. At least she hadn't said anything about his answer to Sean's earlier question. He was grateful for that at least. But that little blessing aside, he had no idea what to do now. If this was one of the girls who actually liked him, he would probably hold her close and slowly coax her into some nice relaxing sex. But this situation was, well… a bit more delicate than that. He raised his hand and hesitantly rested it on her nearest shoulder. That was a start. She didn't seem to mind, anyway. She didn't flail around and kick him out or anything. He figured now would be a good time to find the charming and winning comment. "Suzanne…" He felt like if he said her name before speaking, it might sound a little more serious, as though she would be more willing to listen. How clever he was! "If they _were _here… I think they would be really proud of how you've handled yourself."

She looked up from her hands, the teary-eyed frown still on her face. "What?"

For a moment, Reno wasn't quite sure whether the woman was mad at him or not. He decided to just go with it. "I mean, you may not think so yourself, but you've been doing great with Sean! And it's good that you aren't completely like a mom, because he needs his big sister. If your parents showed up now, they'd be glad to see that their son isn't dead or starving, and that he still has a roof over his head." He lifted her chin a bit to look into her eyes. "And do you know why he has all those things? Because you make sure he gets them. I'm sure that's all they want. For their kids to be safe."

Suzanne's eyes searched his, looking for a hidden motive, but she found none. She wasn't crying so hard now, but she still let out the occasional stifled sob. They sat in silence for a time, Reno doing his best to wipe away her tears with his sleeve. Since he had begun talking, his arm had snaked around to the other shoulder, and now he was holding her closer, surprisingly only to comfort her. She hated him. She hated him, and she was grateful to him all at once. It confused her so much that she couldn't figure out whether she was supposed to tell him to let go, or stay a while longer. Eventually, she distracted herself by asking him a question. She didn't care if he answered or not, just as long as it kept her from making the decision of what to do with him. "Reno…" He looked to her eyes. "That night… when you first got here, and you were going to… well…" She stopped briefly. To her knowledge, it wasn't exactly considered good form to ask someone what they were thinking when they were going to rape you. But luckily, he seemed to know what she was talking about, so she didn't have to explain. "What… made you stop?" It was something that had puzzled her ever since it happened. Not that she was _upset_ that he stopped or anything, she was just… curious.

He looked away for a moment, as if trying to recall that time. "I remembered my mom…" he said finally. There was a pause, and she thought that was all he was going to say, but he continued. "There was a time when a Shinra soldier was stationed in Sector 4 where I lived, and he was staying with us. Kind of like how I'm staying with you. He…" He stopped and furrowed his brow, perhaps straining to find a graceful way of explaining. "He took advantage of the situation. I hadn't really thought about it until I showed up here."

Suzanne looked kind of taken aback. "But. But why would you go work for them when something like that happened?" Hearing his story made her wonder if he was on the right side of the battle.

Reno scratched his head, obviously a little curious himself. "I dunno…" He leaned back, taking her with him. "Well… I had left home by the time I was twelve, kind of running amuck with other kids like me. I joined a gang, and I guess I got kind of bigheaded. You know, 'watching out for number one' and all that. So after a few years of that, here comes a big shot Shinra guy, asking me if I want to do basically exactly what I was already doing, only for a lot of money… At that point, I hadn't even thought of my mom in years, so of course I said yes."

She looked at him cynically. "So _that's_ the kind of person you are? Doing things for yourself, and nothing for others?"

The redhead sighed and closed his eyes. "I try not to get involved with others in the first place."

He still had a bit of a grip on her shoulder, and she eyed it for a moment. "I guess I kind of fucked all that up for you then, didn't I?"

Reno opened his eyes once more and looked over at her curiously, as she turned her eyes back to his. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Suzanne paused. "You're here, talking to me, trying to make me feel better, aren't you?"

He hadn't really thought of it like that. He thought it was all for his benefit, but really, he had never put quite so much work is wooing a lady before, nor had he really ever shared anything personal with one. Maybe he had gotten involved by mistake. "Is it working?"

She smiled at him with still-red, tired eyes. "A little bit…"

It was strangely comforting to see a woman who had obviously been crying crack a smile because of something he had said to her. He had never had the feeling that he had done something right for someone else before, and he had to admit, it felt good. He felt like he was literally glowing with pride. He felt his cheeks go a little warm. Maybe he was glowing, a little bit. It was embarrassing, really. He quickly let go of her and stood. "I better get back up there."

She looked up at him with those puffy (but lovely, he noted) eyes, still smiling slightly. "Alright. Thanks though. You know, for an actual conversation…"

He smirked. It was their first real somewhat friendly conversation, wasn't it? "Any time."

She wiped at her cheeks a little as he began back towards the stairs. "Oh, Reno?"

He turned back, still blushing, but only a little. "Yeah."

She looked at him for a moment in thought. "You can stay, okay?"

He turned his back to her again, only to hide his beaming smile. "Thanks." Quickly, he hopped back upstairs. Suzanne stared after him for only a moment before curling her knees to her chest on the couch contently.

A/N: So that chapter was longer than the others, I believe... Perhaps to make up for the length of time I took writing it. I had to go back and change some things at the end (since I've just sort of been writing whatever comes to mind, and it doesn't always work with other things I've said.) It was kind of following Reno the whole time, so it was fun figuring out exactly how his mind was working in all this. (I may do that for Suzanne in the next chapter) I tried to make him a little more human, rather than a flirt-bot. I also tied up that little loose end of what the hell that random dialog was in the first chapter. And Reno and Suzanne had a REAL conversation! OH EM GEE!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: POOPS! I do not own Scrabble… okay, I own it, but I don't… you know… profit off of it.

Chapter 6

Suzanne didn't wake up to make breakfast the next morning until Sean had thumped downstairs and turned on his morning cartoons. She sat up, briefly confused by her surroundings until she remembered. "I fell asleep on the couch..." she said aloud. Sean turned and looked at her, then the couch.

"Uh huh."

She looked around through squinted eyes. Usually she was asleep a bit earlier than three o'clock in the morning, but thoughts had kept her up later. Reno had his ups and downs, certainly. It was as though he was still in the state of being a teenager, where while he was capable of having real conversation, his mind was only really on one thing. Like he'd never really matured past 15 or 16. In short, she couldn't figure out exactly where Reno stood with her. More thumping snapped her out of her thoughts as Reno stomped downstairs. "Okay, kid. I'm awake, and ready for breakfast. Happy now?" Just like a teenager.

Sean grinned. "Yeah!" He blinked his big eyes and looked to his sister. "What's for breakfast?"

Before she could answer, the Turk started in again. "You mean breakfast isn't even _ready_ and you woke me up?!" He was slowly working off the respect she had gained of him the previous night. Maybe he was only a nice charming guy at night when he was sober. She shut her eyes, straining to keep her good mood.

"Cereal."

"Cereal?" Reno stared at her for a moment, before she glared over at him. "_Cereal_? I woke up this early for _cereal_?"

It was probably a fluke, she decided. His sudden burst of kindness and seemingly genuine caring for her was probably some sort of accident. She narrowed her eyes before turning away again, not even acknowledging his loudmouthed comment.

Sean laughed a little and looked at the Turk. "It's not early, silly! It's almost noon! You both slept late today!"

While Suzanne's face immediately adopted a look of shock as her eyes darted towards the clock, Reno looked only mildly surprised. "Almost NOON? You two get your own breakfast, I gotta get over to Cid's!" She darted upstairs and began frantically tearing her clothes off. She may have been a mechanic's assistant (even though Cid only worked on his own projects, and rarely fixed anything for anyone unless it was really important), but she was still a girl and didn't want to be seen in the same clothes two days in a row.

"Hey."

Suzanne stopped in the middle of putting her pants on and turned to see Reno standing in her doorway.

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm sending Sean to his friend's today since I have a meeting." Although he maintained a perfectly calm exterior, she could see his eyes traveling down to look at her butt which was conveniently only clad in a pair of little chocobo-print underwear. She turned seven shades of red before flinging the boot she was holding at him.

"WHAT do you think you're DOING HERE?! I'm CHANGING, you FREAK!!" As the boot hit the wall near him, he bounded away, chuckling lightly to himself. She stared at the doorframe as though he were still standing there for a moment before moving her hand up to cover the beet-red blush staining her cheeks. '_How am I supposed to keep living this way? I can't take much more_…' She sighed, cheeks still red before pulling up her pants and retrieving her boot.

* * *

Reno sauntered lazily into the bar and immediately saw the other Turks sitting around a table in the corner. He casually pulled out a chair and joined them. Tseng looked up with a quirked brow. "Glad you could join us, Reno. I expected you to be at least two hours late."

"I thought three." Elena chimed in. "Rude had some obscure guess... What was it?"

"Approximately 12:13." Rude silently drew his wrists up to examine his watch. "I win the pool." Tseng and Elena each tossed several gil towards to tall silent Turk before regaining their business-like exterior.

Reno looked between the three of them. The pool was nothing new, though he had no idea why they kept it up, as Rude always knew exactly when he'd arrive (for reasons that couldn't be explained). "So... What's this meeting about again?"

Tseng leaned forward, lightly propping his chin up on his knuckles before beginning. "We've been here for nearly a month, and there's still no sign of AVALANCHE. I called this meeting to ask all of your opinions on the matter. Should we stay and keep watch, should we try somewhere else, should we go back to our recruiting duties...?"

Reno's eyes widened. He had been spending so much time going after Suzanne, he'd hardly even noticed the days pass him by. Usually, if nothing happened after thirty days, they would abandon their posts and move on. Elena started in. "I think we should report back to headquarters and look into a new arrangement. Nothing's happening here, and we could be of use somewhere else. What about you, Rude?" He shrugged.

Reno abruptly stood, knocking his chair over, and slammed his hands down hard on the table. "We should stay!!" Only after the words left his mouth, did he realize how frantic he sounded. The others all looked at him, mild surprise showing on their faces. There was a brief pause before anyone said anything.

"Aaaand do you have a good reason...? For your opinion?" Tseng, Elena and Rude all continued to stare (maybe... Rude might have actually been checking out the woman behind Reno.)

"W-well!" He stammered. _I stammered?! _He silently thought to himself. He shook his head a bit to regain his composure before continuing. "There's a very good reason." the redhead made sure to sound as self-assured as possible this time.

"... And that reason is...?"

"W-well!!" _Dammit_... "You see, I..." He trailed off. He literally couldn't think of anything to support his frantic need to stay, except for to be near Suzanne. But it's not like that would help his case.

"The pilot could be a useful ally."

This time, Reno was among the startled ones. They all turned to look at Rude now. The redhead sank back to his chair (which he realized, a little too late, was now several feet away) and fell to the ground. No one seemed to notice. While Reno picked up his chair to sit, Rude continued.

"As it stands, he has somewhat of a grudge against ShinRa. If we convince him that there is still some chance that the Space Program might be started up again, he could be more likely to help engineer some new fighter jets and the like. The President has been looking for a new head of the Department of Aeronautics. Cid Highwind would be ideal."

While Reno stared in awe, Tseng moved on. "Good reason to stay has been presented. We'll maintain our posts, and I'll pay a few visits to discuss the possibility with him. Everyone, get back to work."

They all stood, and the redhead clapped Rude on the shoulder. He mumbled a quick "Thanks, man" before the stoic Turk walked out. Reno now approached Tseng. "Hey, um... this is weird to ask, but I need some advice..."

Tseng looked at him curiously for a moment. "Yeah, about what?"

"Well... you're pretty good with women..."

"...I haven't dated in years."

"Yeah well, they aren't repulsed by your personality."

"I suppose that's true..."

"So... How do you get them to respect you like that?" Reno was in serious need of advice. He was stuck in a terrible place where he could talk to her, and occasionally coax her into kissing and the like, but she never took him seriously.

"You're right, that is weird to ask. Wait..." He narrowed his eyes. "Is this about that woman you're living with?"

"Well... yeah."

"I'm surprised you didn't just take advantage of her like I suggested." He looked away briefly, pondering the situation.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it!"

"Good, I just told you to do it to get you to shut up and stop complaining."

"That was a dirty trick!"

"It worked didn't it...?" Reno silently fumed for several moments, before brushing it off. If he was going to get Tseng's help on anything, he couldn't go around having tantrums.

"Look, are you going to help me, or not?!"

"Alright... I'm no expert, but if you're serious about her, and you want her to understand that, for one, you need to stop acting like a dumb kid all the time. She may be younger than you, but you need to understand that she's a woman. She's not like the girls in Midgar, who are coasting through life on their Daddy's savings. She's living on her own,"

"With a kid." Reno corrected.

"With a kid- ...really?"

"Yeah. Her younger brother." Tseng stared at him for a moment, surprised that he would go after a woman who was practically a single mom.

"Okay, she's raising a kid, working hard to put food on the table, and you need to respect that. If you're treating her like all the other girls you've met, then it's no wonder she doesn't like you. Treat her like a real woman." Reno looked at his feet. When it was put that way, he did seem like a real jerk. "Now go to work."

The hot headed Turk grinned, gave a quick thanks, and briskly walked out the door, mistaking Tseng's command for "go to work to win her back", rather than "go to your post, you lazy dumbass."

* * *

Suzanne sat quietly on the wing of the Tiny Bronco, staring off into space as Cid worked, also quietly, underneath the plane. She was lost in thought. Torn between her heart and her head. So she had a bit of a crush. Big deal. It's not like she was going to marry him. He wasn't looking for a real relationship anyway. She was so absorbed in her thinking, that she didn't notice Cid come out from under his seaplane and start cleaning off his face. "You alright, kid?"

She blinked and turned her eyes to the cool blues of the Captain. They reminded her of Reno's... "Huh?"

"Are you alright? Ya haven't hardly said anything since you got here."

"Oh." She stared at him for a moment. He was like Reno in more ways than one. Why did she always end up around the blue-eyed, hotheaded, rude, potty-mouthed, smoking (the phrase "smoking hot" appeared briefly in her mind), yet somehow caring men? Maybe it was, oddly enough, her type. She supposed it made sense... She'd known Cid for years, and look how she got along with him now!

"Well?"

Suzanne snapped her attention back to him. "Huh?"

Cid sighed and scratched his neck. "Never mind... Now c'mon." He walked over and took her hands, helping her down from her perch. "Work is over, so why don't you go home and take it easy, alright?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. And walked her towards the gate.

"Yeah, I will..." She let out a sigh. "God, why can't you be my age, and not dating Shera?" Cid's face twisted into an expression of total confusion as he tried to imagine it. He blushed.

"Let's... not even go there." He released her as they reached the gate.

"Sorry..."

Cid ruffled her hair leaving her with a quirked brow and an annoyed expression. "Don't worry about it, kid."

She smoothed down her hair, mumbling "I'm not a kid" as she passed through the gate and began her trek home.

* * *

After a brief stop to pick up Sean, Suzanne finally walked through the front door to only have a wonderful aroma immediately fill her nose. After stopping only for a moment to smell, Reno caught her eye. The lights were dimmed, there were candles, a glorious dinner was laid out on the table, and Reno was leaning against it, holding a glass of wine, looking as smug as ever. The expression didn't stay long, when he noticed Sean. It seemed that in his rush to prepare something nice for Suzanne, the Turk had forgotten that there was not one, but two actual residents in this house. Sean cut the silence. "Reno made us dinner!" The redhead made a speedy recovery.

"Um... That's right! Yeah, I guess to thank you for letting me stay here!"

"That was nice of you!" Sean scampered over and pulled up a chair at the table. "Reno, you forgot to set a place for Suzanne!" He grit his teeth.

"Yes… how silly of me…" When Sean wasn't looking, Reno managed to lock eyes with Suzanne. He gave a little shrug of 'oh well', as he headed into the kitchen for extra tableware.

Suzanne was confused. It was like he had MPD or something. At times, he could be a rude, immature, selfish brute of a man, and at other times, he was a kind, loveable, laid-back (but not to the point of aggravating everyone around him), gentleman who seemed to genuinely care for her. Unless… one of those personalities was a front. Maybe he actually _was _the sensitive human being that shone through on a rare occasion. Or… he was really a huge jackass who thought with his dick rather than his brain, and he was just trying to get on her good side by being nice. '_That sonova_…' She cast her eyes back to the table. Reno made eye contact, and pulled out a chair for her. Maybe he was just faking kindness… She sat down and they briefly locked eyes. …but she may as well take advantage of it while she had it… After all… it _was_ kind of comforting to be sitting there with him so close behind her…

Reno was pretty proud of how he was doing so far. He had cleaned up the dining room, the table was set beautifully, there were candles, he had prepared a delicious dinner….. okay, he didn't. He told Elena it was all for the sake of romance, and she took care of it, eyes sparkling the whole way. He sat down in the chair next to Suzanne. "Soo… on the menu tonight, is chicken parmesan, angel hair pasta, peas, and some lovely dessert is in the fridge." He turned to Sean. "Before you get excited, you can't have any of the special dessert."

The boys face fell. "Awwww but WHY??"

Reno quirked a brow. "Cuz it has a lot of booze in it."

Suzanne frowned and Sean nodded understandingly. "So Reno." Suzanne started as she began to serve herself. "What was that meeting about?"

"Well…" Reno began, leaning back in his chair, "it was just regular business matters and all, but then I heard something interesting…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah… Bob… from Accounting… apparently has fallen for this girl he's seen a lot of lately… on business…"

"Hm…" Suzanne narrowed her eyes as she played with her food a little, running her fork through the pasta. "That could be interesting if I knew who Bob was."

"It's very interesting." Reno sat up and took a bite of his chicken. He waited to swallow before he continued. "You see, he's used to acting like a smart-a…" He cast a weary eye at Sean. "… butt. So he's having problems expressing his feelings for her. Without upsetting her, I mean."

Suzanne had a hunch about what was going through his mind, but what he had just said confirmed it. She set her fork down. "Well… maybe she's just confused since she keeps seeing two completely different sides of him. Maybe all this woman wants is to know exactly who the man is?"

Reno sighed. "Well, _maybe_ both sides are his real personality, and she just has to accept that about him. Because you know… no man is perfect."

"Perhaps _she_ could bring herself to understand, if _Bob_ wasn't so schizo about it."

The redhead frowned. "He's _not_ being schitzo! There's a time and a place to be romantic! Maybe he just has a lot of fun teasing her the rest of the time!!"

"Well MAYBE she doesn't want to be teased all the time! Maybe the teasing wears her out! Maybe she just wants a normal boyfriend who will treat her like the woman she is!!"

Reno stood up, glaring. "WELL MAYBE I'M TRYING TO TREAT YOU LIKE-"

Sean stood on his chair and shouted to match Reno's volume. "Maybe they'll get married someday and get a chocobo!" Both of the adults in the room turned to look at the child. He was simply smiling, eating his peas by the piled spoonful. Reno collapsed back into his chair, a hand to his forehead. "Let's not talk about Bob from Accounting anymore…"

Suzanne continued playing with her pasta. "I agree…" She took a bite.

* * *

After dinner, they had settled down to watch a movie. Sean ended up picking a cartoon of some sort. It was called "Scrabble-mon: Scrabble Monsters", and both Reno and Suzanne quickly lost interest.

During the course of the film, since Sean was seated on the floor a foot from the TV, Reno had managed to get an arm around Suzanne without causing any trouble. She snuggled against him slightly and they stared blankly at the screen. Reno spent the hour and a half trying to figure out how to win her over, while Suzanne mostly focused on the chocolaty dessert.

"_GO S-MON!!"_

"_ESSSSSSSS!!"_

"_Tackle 'Diskette'! Earn me 40 more points!!"_

"_ESSSSSSSSSSS!!"_

Sean's eyelids were drooping as he lay curled up on the floor.

"Sean?" Suzanne stood up and patted the kid's shoulder a bit. "Sean, you should go to bed if you're tired." He stood up, said 'okay' in a monotone while rubbing his eyes, and began walking up the stairs. She watched after him for a moment. "Well that was easy."

Reno leaned forward to turn off the TV. "Thank God. What a weird movie."

Suzanne sat back on the couch. "So what were you going to say earlier?"

He quirked a brow. "Earlier?"

"Yeah, earlier." She turned to look him in the eye. "At dinner. Maybe you're trying to treat me like…?"

He lowered his eyes and looked away. "Nothing."

Suzanne leaned forward on her hands, grinning. "No, you have to tell me now. You started the whole 'Bob from Accounting' thing, so you obviously wanted to talk. Now talk!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Like… a real woman."

She inched a bit closer. "You were really going to say that? That's so sweet! Reno…" She took his hand and leaned her chin lightly on it. "You can tell me that sort of thing, you know."

He looked her over. He wanted to touch her. Badly. Not just her body… her face. She was beautiful in a way that was difficult to describe. The kind of beautiful that made you feel like you'd finally come home. She was beautiful, and convincing in her words, but probably tipsy from the dessert. Most of what she was saying was probably drunk-talk. "I'm not so sure about that…"

She smiled warmly at him. "Here's something you can be sure about…" She leaned over and kissed him. As she worked her lips around his, she moved one of her hands to run through his hair. He dropped his free hand to run up her thigh and rest on her hip. Her leg slowly slid between his and he twitched slightly, mostly out of surprise. She kissed him for a moment longer, until surprisingly, he broke it off.

"I knew Elena went overboard on the alcohol…"

"What…?"

"You're drunk." He said it a little louder, to make sure she heard him. "Come on, you should go to bed too. You may not be plastered, but I don't know how to resist you if you keep throwing yourself at me."

"Can't we go to the bar instead?"

"No. I think you'd prefer remembering what happened, and knowing I didn't screw you… unlike last time."

"Last time?" This must be how Suzanne felt on the multitude of occasions when Reno had tried to sneak into her bed.

"Go to bed, dammit!" She curled up close to him and gripped his hand.

"Come with me?" He looked into those stunning, longing eyes of hers for what felt like an hour.

"…Sure." She grinned broadly. "But no messing around in bed, okay?" One month ago, if someone asked him if he would take advantage of a willing drunk girl, he would never in a million years thought he would have said no.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: makes a farting noise

P.S. Pleeease review. Constructive criticism would be great too! Basically, let me know you read this story. It gives me motivation to write faster. Thanks to Akira Darkness' message alone, I finished this chapter at least three times faster than I normally would have.

P.P.S. On that note, I'm going to be really busy for the nest week or so, and then I'm going to Fanime in CA, so it might be a little longer before I get started on the next chapter. But I'm going with my consultant (a.k.a. my friend who I force to read this fanfic and critique it, even though she hasn't played the game), so hopefully, I'll at least have a plot of some sort laid out before I start.

Chapter 7

This time, Suzanne awoke in the comfort of her own bed. Yet… something seemed funny. Like there was extra weight on her bed. Without looking for the source of the weight, she started feeling around. Her hand finally landed on… something… she couldn't quite tell what it was, so she kept running her fingers over it. Maybe it was a lumpy spot in her blankets?

_So soft_… _Wait_… _Hard? _"I'm confused…" She finally muttered aloud.

"Aren't you sober yet?!"

At the sound of his voice, Suzanne flailed around briefly before tumbling off the side of her bed. She shot up and looked at the man in her bed. Well… he was fully clothed, in the same stuff as the night before… Oh… "Last night…"

Reno sat up, frowning. "Yeah, last night. What're you trying to do, give me some serious blue balls?" She stared at him, the memories slowly coming back to her. They were kind of fuzzy, but they were there… "You wouldn't let me leave! 'Don't go, Reno.' 'I'm scared to be alone, Reno.' 'I just want to be held, Reno.' 'Please stay, I promise I'll stop groping you, Reno.' Fuckin' hell, woman!" He turned to face her. "And then you wake me up by feeling up my crotch? Jeez, I know I'm sexy, but of all people, I thought you'd be able to keep you're mitts off of me."

Her mouth, which had been hanging open when she had begun to remember her behavior, slowly shut as he spoke. "Even though I was pushing myself on you… you didn't do anything…?"

Reno glanced to the side. He looked almost… embarrassed… He lifted his hand to scratch the back of his neck. "Well… no." He scooted closer to the edge of the bed. "I didn't want a repeat of last time you were drunk. I didn't want to you get so upset again…"

It was strange. He almost seemed to be blushing. Unusual for someone like him, she thought. He turned his eyes down to her, as she looked up at him, and for a moment, their gazes entwined. It was brief though. Only seconds later, they both looked away. Suzanne's eyes dropped, and something strange caught her eye. A certain pulling of fabric on the crotch of his pants… Immediately, she recalled the way she woke him up, and a strange look crossed her face. She stood up, cringing and squirming, hopping her way to the bathroom where she promptly, and quite literally, washed her hands of him. She glanced at the clock. 12:30. They'd slept late again... Once she had dried them, she waved her hands around and quietly hopped from foot to foot. "Eeeeewwww…"

* * *

Reno watched her leave, walking rather awkwardly, and looked down, remembering his little friend. That must have been why she left. "Whoops." He glanced around briefly, before letting his gaze trail up to the ceiling. "Okay, Reno, get your mind off of sex. Not for you, for her..." He closed his eyes. "Okay... fighting. Yeah, that's good. Fighting. Yeah, there's a monster, I've got my electromag rod out... He attacks! I dodge. We trade blows for a while and... we're getting all sweaty. I trap her in a pyramid, and... she starts struggling to get out... She presses herself up against the barriers and- FUCK! Okay, new approach." He closed his eyes even tighter, and did his best to picture Palmer. In his underwear. In a sexy pose. When his eyes opened, he cringed. "Eeew... I feel dirty..." But at least his problem had been solved.

Since his conversation with Tseng, he had decided to try to be a better person for Suzanne. That meant no more constantly trying to get her into bed with him, no more late night drinking binges, no more slacking off, and much more simple romance. It was going to be hard. Very hard, after nearly 10 years of acting like a total prick to get girls to like him. It always worked in Midgar, where most girls below were looking for some humor, and the girls above all just wanted a good fuck from a confidant guy. It didn't work in any of the real places. It definitely wouldn't work on her.

Reno finally hopped to his feet. Maybe today, he'd take another shot at the 'romantic evening together' angle. But there were two problems. Number one, he had to get Suzanne out of the house for a while so that he could prepare. Since today was her day off, that could be a little tricky… And number two, he had to get someone to watch Sean for the night… Well, best start with the first one. What excuse to use… What would make her leave… 'Suzanne, Cid's house is on fire'? No, he lives down the street, so that wouldn't give him enough time… "I know!"

The Turk casually walked across the hallway and lightly pushed open the bathroom door. He could hear the shower running. One little peak wouldn't hurt, right? The glass was frosted, but he could still make out the vague details of her perfect body. He sighed. "…… SUZANNE!" He couldn't help the slight smile which quirked his lips when she jumped a foot in the air. The blurred figure opened the glass door a few inches, showing just one of her eyes peeking out.

"What the hell?! Stop walking in on me all the time!……. And stop that smirking!!"

Now to make his move.

"Did you hear they're selling gold chocobo eggs in Nibelheim?" There was some distance between them, but at that moment, Reno could have sworn that her pupils grew twice they're size.

To properly display her response, it will have to be written in lolspeak. "OMG LIEK RLY?! I LUV DEM!! 3"

So he had been right to assume she liked chocobos. 'How did he figure that out?' you ask. Well… He remembered the chocobo underwear she had been wearing just yesterday morning. With her personality, he figured she wouldn't wear something like that unless… she loved chocobos.

The shower door promptly shut, the water turned off, and she leaped out wearing only a towel. "Reno, I need to fly to Nibelheim pronto! You think you could watch Sean for the day?"

He smirked. All was going according to plan. Even by plane, it would take her more than three hours to go, find out that he lied, and come back. "Sure, no prob."

Perfect…

* * *

"All right, kiddo..." Sean stared up at Reno, a thoughtful and curious stare on his face. "I'm getting you a babysitter for the night, okay? When Suzanne gets back, I need some alone time with her."

"Are you gonna kiss her?"

This caused Reno to pause. He didn't actually have an answer for that. It sort of all depended on how the night went. And even so, would giving the kid the knowledge that there could actually be something between them upset her? Well... The kid was pretty good at keeping his mouth shut. "Yes. But that's a secret, okay? Don't tell anyone. You can't even talk to your sister about it next time you see her, understand?" Sean made a motion of zipping his lips closed. "Right, good kid. Now come on, we gotta go out and pick up some things..."

* * *

Suzanne sat in the cramped back seat of the Tiny Bronco, leaning forward a little to see the landscape. They were nearing the mountains now, a sure sign that they were almost there. Cid sat in the front, doing what he loved most. Flying. But today, his brow was furrowed in concentration. The plane wasn't exactly at 100 yet, and as they went, he kept making mental notes to himself. Things he had to fix, things that needed adjustments... "Why the fuck are we heading to Nibelheim again?!"

Suzanne grinned. "Gold chocobo eggs!" She shouted the words above the noise of the little plane. "I heard they were selling them!"

Cid sighed. "I did need to take her out for a test flight, but that sounds pretty fuckin' fishy, if you ask me! Did you get the tip from that Turk?!"

A strange question. Did it really matter? He knew how much she wanted a gold chocobo, and that she would work off of any hearsay she was given. "Yeah, why?!"

"Shit... I thought you said that no one knows what kind of chocobo it'll be until after it hatches! What if it turns out to be a regular one?!" There was a long silence in the cockpit, the only sound coming from the noisy propellers keeping the plane in the air.

"That sonova bitch..." In her excitement at the prospect of getting a gold chocobo of her very own, it seems she'd forgotten all the information she'd learned about the birds. Namely, the fact that Cid just reminded her of.

"What?!"

"I SAID!! THAT SONOVA BITCH!!"

"Oh! So we're okay to turn back?!"

Suzanne sighed. Reno had ruined her hopes and dreams... jerk. "Yeah...! There's no real point in going the rest of the way, unless you need to refuel!"

"No, we're good!"

'_Good_', she thought to herself, '_because there's an ass back home that needs kicking..._'

* * *

"Do a HAFTA go?"

Reno looked down at the huge watery brown eyes, similar to those of Suzanne's, but differently colored. "For the thousandth time, yes. You do. Do you know the meaning of 'alone time'?" Sean looked genuinely disappointed.

They had spent the past hour or so out shopping together. He supposed that maybe the kid saw him a bit as a big brother. Which was weird, considering his own interest in the boys sister, but it was understandable. How long had Suzanne said it had been since his father died? Three years? Sean had probably forgotten what it was like to have an older man in the house. Maybe he took comfort in the feeling of having a role model. It almost broke Reno's heart. '_I'm not the guy you should look up to_' he wanted to tell him, '_Look up to the pilot, look up to the president, anyone but me..._'

A knock on the door broke his concentration. Before he had the chance to open it, two Turks, Elena and Rude, let themselves in. "We're here. Where's the kid?" It only took a second before Elena saw him. "Aww, he's cute! Come on, kiddo, we'll be your babysitters for the night."

An almost worried look appeared on Sean's face, and he clutched Reno's hand. The redhead looked down curiously to the child, seeking comfort in him. Strange. "Elena, stop grinning like that. You're scaring him." He knelt down beside the little boy. "They're nice, I promise. Why don't you go introduce yourself?"

"Why do I have to leave?"

"Cause you're being a cock blocker." As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew what would come next.

"What's a cock blocker?"

Reno sighed. He hadn't exactly thought ahead on that one. "Damn it..." He covered his mouth. So swearing as a response wasn't a good idea either. "Shit! I mean... Shoot!" Another deep sigh left his lungs, and he pointed at the others. "Just... go over there..."

Sean reluctantly left Reno's side to greet the strangers. "He-hello." He mumbled quietly. Elena smiled down at him, this time, with less enthusiasm, trying not to scare him away again.

"Hi there! You ready to go?" Sean shook his head, staring down at the floor. The blond Turk crossed her arms in thought. "Hmm..." Rude, who had been lurking near the door, finally stepped forward.

"I'll show you three different ways to break a man's neck." Sean's eyes lit up at this. Not quite from excitement, from... curiosity. He wandered over and took Rude's hand, leaving Elena to glower at them from a distance.

Bitterly, she muttered "We'll see you tomorrow... Good luck." The trio wandered out through the front door leaving Reno alone in the house with nothing to do but wait for Suzanne's return.

It turned out that he didn't have to wait for long. After a mere half hour, he heard some angry mumbling outside. Well... he wasn't sure if it could be considered mumbling if it was loud enough for him to hear... She finally slammed the door open, frustration and rage clearly showing in her eyes. Reno decided it would be best to diffuse the situation as soon as possible. "Heeeyyy!! You're home!" He said cheerfully. She opened her mouth to speak, and he quickly cut in, looking at a wristwatch that wasn't there. "Would you look at the time? It's past four o'clock! Only a few more hours before we should have dinner!" This time, there was an incredulous look on her face as she got ready to talk again. "You know what? Why don't you sit down? You're probably tired, by the looks of it, and a little disappointed since you didn't get that egg you wanted." He took her arm and led her to the couch, sitting her down. "You just sit here and relax, and I'll go take a shower, m'kay?" He was beginning to realize that maybe he should have waited until later in the day to send her off so he didn't have to stall until a decent time... '_Oh well. We can't all be perfect._'

"RENO." He slowly turned to look at her before he'd even taken a step up the stairs. All at once, he was pushed up against the wall, her forearm pressing against his neck.

"Wow." He coughed. "You're a lot faster than you look."

"Only when I'm upset." The anger was still burning in her eyes. "Now you listen to me... If you ever lie to me again, I'm going to beat you within an inch of- WHERE'S SEAN?"

Reno managed to pry her away from him. "Back! Back, you beast!" He laughed a little, though she didn't seem to find anything funny about it. "I got him a babysitter for the night, okay? Now leave me to my shower, and when I finish, I need to take you somewhere, alright?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "Am I going to regret it?"

"Hopefully not." He smirked and she frowned skeptically.

"...Fine." She walked past him up the stairs. "No peeking in while I'm changing, understand?"

He stood straight and saluted her. "Aye aye, my lady!" She stared at him for a moment, as if to say 'I'm watching you...' before finishing her trek to her room.

* * *

Suzanne sat downstairs in some comfortable, but nice looking clothes. The kind of thing you might wear to lunch with a friend you haven't seen in years. It wasn't often that it was the girl waiting for the guy to finish getting ready for a date. "Date..." Was this a date? It had never really been specified. She supposed she should assume it was, what with Sean being sent out with a babysitter, and Reno somewhat obviously stalling until it got dark. She leaned back and sighed, resting her arms over her eyes. How had she gotten here? She remembered being pissed off, since he lied to her, and all of the sudden, they were going on a date? She supposed she'd never understand...

Her concentration was finally broken when she heard the thump of Reno's footsteps going down the stairs. She glanced over. The boy was fond of his neutral colored buttoned shirts, wasn't he... This time it was grey, and he was wearing jeans, for an interesting change... But his work shoes remained. He was used to them, she supposed. She stood. "It's about time... It's already dark outside, how long were you planning to take?"

In all actuality, Reno had hoped to stall just a bit longer, but he supposed this would do. Disregarding her question, he gripped her hand. "Let's go." He smiled down at her in a way that made her blush. '_It's just that it's different from his cocky smirk_' she told herself, '_that's all_.'

The redhead led her through town, down the main street, all the way until they hit field. Even then, he kept leading her along. After no more than five minutes of walking, they were at the old rocket. She looked up at it. No matter how many times she saw it, it always amazed her. The first, and only ship every built to fly among the stars, and it would never have the chance to. "Shinra 26..." She mumbled. Reno glanced back at her.

"Huh?"

"Nothing... Are we there yet?"

"Almost." Reno grinned as he led her just around the back of the rocket, where he'd left a blanket, a bottle of champagne, and a lantern. "Here we are." He knelt down to light the lantern before helping her to the ground.

"More alcohol?" She asked. It seemed like whenever they were together and drinking was involved it led to some... well... undesirable behavior. On her part, anyway. He laughed it off, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Don't worry. I won't let you drink too much." He let some more wick out in the lantern, letting it grow brighter. "Besides, it's only champagne, right?" He handed her a glass.

Suzanne took the glass gingerly, holding it by its delicate stem. "I guess so..." So his aim was not to get her drunk tonight. Maybe for once, he just wanted to spend time with her, you know, actually _get to know her_ before jumping her like a horny high school boy. He didn't seem to be preparing for an attack, she decided as he poured her a glass of the chilled liquid. He was really doing quite well.

Little did she know that Reno definitely _wanted_ to jump her like a horny high school boy. And if he knew she wasn't going to put up a fight, he'd probably do just that. If he had his way, they would have gone to the bar, had fun there, gone back home and jumped into bed for some hot, steamy lovemaking. Unfortunately, he'd already tried that, and it hadn't exactly ended well. "So..." he began, once they had settled in. "How was your flight?"

She slowly turned and glared. "Are you asking me to splash this in your face...?" He just shrugged and chuckled. _Idiot_. Despite that fleeting thought, she could feel her frown turn into a slight smile. She supposed even she wasn't completely immune to his boyish charm. "It was great. I haven't flown in a long time. So who's watching Sean anyway?"

A beat. "Some friends." ((A/N: Cut to Rude demonstrating headlocks on Elena, Sean grinning wildly.)) He looked up at the rocket, taking a sip of his drink. "So what happened with good ol' Shinra 26, anyway? Just a failed experiment?"

Suzanne's eyebrows raised in surprise. "You didn't hear?" The blank stare he gave her answered her question. They covered it up a little in the news, but she thought someone with a high ranking like Reno would have at least heard a little. "Shera, the woman who lives with Cid, was down with the oxygen tanks when it was supposed to launch. She would have died if Cid hadn't aborted the launch. I remember that day... everyone was devastated..." She looked at the rocket thoughtfully for a moment before quickly turning to face him again. "But I assure you, it would have flown. I know it. And maybe... Maybe once Shinra starts up the Space Program again it _will_ fly someday..."

Reno sighed. "Yeah, more like 'if' Shinra starts up the Space Program again..." She gave him a sharp look.

"What?"

"Nothing." Probably best not to go there... "So, are you happy? Doing what you're doing?" _Yeah_._ Speedy change of subject_. _Smooth move_...

She cocked her head. He had to know by this point that she wasn't exactly stupid... She heard what she heard, but she'd just attribute it to his big mouth and leave it be. He was trying hard to make this a nice night for them. She at least owed him a good attitude. "You mean working under Cid?" _Great_... _He probably just twisted that into something dirty in his head_... "It's alright. He and I are friends, so it's not really a big pain or anything, but a job's a job, you know?" She looked over at him. A smirk was stretched across his face, and she sighed. "What about you? Do you like being a Turk? Do you like kidnapping and beating people?"

_Ha ha_... "_Working under Cid_"... After having sat there for a moment, grinning as he tried to come up with a good response, he realized she'd asked him a question. "Um... yes." There was another long pause. They stared at each other, one not quite sure what he had just said wrong, the other just a little more turned off by his personality. Finally, Reno broke the silence with a snort from the laughter he tried to stifle. The noise made Suzanne break into laughter herself, and the atmosphere generally eased up between the two.

* * *

four hours later...

Suzanne and Reno lay next to each other on the blanket. The bottle of champagne, half empty, sat discarded in the bucket as they both stared up at the stars. "What do you think it's like up there?" She finally asked. Reno turned his head a bit to look at her. She was stretched out with her hands folded across her stomach, her eyes turned to the sky. He smiled.

"It's probably a lot quieter." There was another short silence, before he rolled onto his side to face her. "You know, I could probably talk to the president. Try to get him interested in the Space Program again." Suzanne rolled to look at him as well.

"You'd do that? It'd mean so much to everyone..." Reno studied the earnest smile on her face as he sidled closer.

"Weeeell... I'll think about it..." He raised a finger to his lips as though he were thinking. "I'll tell you what. I'll think about it- IF. You agree to go out with me." A smug look crossed her face, but before she could say anything, Reno cut in. "Tonight doesn't count." She pouted and rolled to her back again, closing her eyes.

"I can't date you... What if my knight on a shining chocobo shows up, sees you, and goes home?" Reno scooted closer still, until he was right up next to her. She opened one eye and stared at him grudgingly.

"If he's your knight on a shining chocobo, he's not gonna give you up so easily." He leaned over her and reached one hand up to stroke her cheek. "I know I wouldn't." He let the words sink in for a moment and grinned when he saw her blush. The Turk tilted her head back slightly, and slowly brought his lips to hers. The kiss only lasted a second before she giggled.

"Your hair's tickling my face!" He sat up, feeling a little dejected, and ran a hand through his hair. "What's your natural hair color, anyway?" He briefly stopped adjusting his sunglasses and smirked.

"What do you mean? This is natural." Suzanne's head dropped to the side a little.

"Right, sure... seriously, what is it?" He frowned this time.

"I'm not telling you." Her mouth hung open angrily. "You'll just have to find out for yourself. Now come 'ere." He pulled her closer, his hair now out of his face a bit, and kissed her again. She was surprised briefly with how quickly he had his lips on hers, but soon fell into the rhythm of it all.

So maybe he wasn't her knight on a shining chocobo... But she couldn't deny the fact that at this moment, there was no one she'd rather be with.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry that certain parts of the format keep changing... IT'S NOT MY FAULT!! Okay, it IS my fault... I'm just forgetful. Anyway, I drew a happy little doodle that's sort of a

_**PREVIEW FOR ONCOMING PLOT.**_ Yeah. See what I did there? I made it so people will notice that this isn't just me going "Hmm... yeah... this is a webpage... and there's some words on it." This Author's Note actually has something in it. There's a linky below:

http : / / uberwekkness . deviantart . com / art / At-the-party-85687269

Just use that, minus the spaces. This will probably come up in the next few chapters. I'm not completely sure on all the details of it, but it'll end up being the first of two plot points in the story (since thus far, it's basically been "SEX PLZ!!" "Noooo thank you!!" forever.) SO BE EXCITED!! YAAAAY!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: You: 'You don't own Reno!!' Me: 'ORLY??' -dyes his hair green and changes his name to Nemo- 'I DO NOW, BITCHES!!"

WARNING: This chapter has some somewhat graphic images in it. Very lemony and limey. A lot of Reno being a horndog. If you're not into that, skip to the end and read the chapter summary. I don't want to have to keep popping up and saying "OOP!! You might wanna skip thiiiiis!!" Or "OOOOOOKAY YOU CAN READ AGAIN!!"

Chapter 8

Reno couldn't figure it out. They'd been 'dating' for weeks, and they'd barely done anything! With how long they'd been around each other, and the large amount of undeniable sexual tension lingering between them this whole time, you'd think something more would have happened. (He didn't count the drunken sex, as neither of them really remembered anything.) So there he lay, on his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to come up with a way to move things along before he was sent away and never saw her again.

And almost as if on cue, she walked in. Suzanne. Just the woman he'd been thinking about. Without a word, she walked over and sat next to him on the bed, her legs hanging over the edge. "Reno…" She turned to look over her shoulder into his eyes. "What do you want?"

Under the pressure of such a meaningful question, he stayed calm. He already felt like he'd told her a thousand times. "You know what I want." She shifted slightly, and leaned down, brushing her lips against his. She pulled away and gazed longingly into his eyes for a moment, silently urging him to reciprocate her actions. Reno's hand gently stroked her cheek, and he sat up a little, bringing their lips together again. With a little burst of effort, he tugged her down against him, basking in the feeling of her body against his hardened chest.

Though they were pressed tightly together, he could feel her fingers sandwiched tightly between the two of them, strenuously undoing his buttons. He let slip a barely noticeable grin of victory before rolling over to get himself on top. After she'd popped the last button out of its hole, her hands wandered inside of his now open shirt, running along the lines of his muscles. He took this as a definite sign that all this was okay, and let one of his own hands sneak under her shirt. He was a little surprised to learn that she'd come without a bra, but pleased all the same as he started pawing at her chest.

Her breasts felt just as he'd imagined them. Firm enough to avoid sagging like an old woman's when she went braless, like she was now, but still soft to the touch, with silky skin that he couldn't take his hands off of. He kissed her again, harder this time than before. Every new look she gave him, every new experience they shared together, he decided she was even more wonderful than he'd previously thought.

When he pulled back, he immediately discarded his shirt, and went straight to pulling Suzanne's over her head, tossing it aside in the same aimless fashion. They looked just as he remembered them from that morning. That 'morning-after' type morning. For the most part, he made sure not to think about it. Or most of it, anyway. But he hadn't forgotten seeing her in this state. It was dizzying, finally having her to himself after waiting so long, and for a moment he didn't know what to do with her. That moment didn't last long as he returned his hands to her chest. It was strangely arousing to him somehow, to see hands that he recognized as his own fondling the breasts of a woman who he'd, until recently, thought it near impossible to ever get to warm up to him. It was like he'd come to the end of a long tiresome journey that he'd nearly lost interest in, only to have the excitement of it all come blasting back at him a hundred fold.

She let out a low moan as he teased her rose pink nipples, and that just urged him on further. He rolled off of her, fully intending to get back to her as soon as humanly possible. His urgency left him tugging mercilessly at his pants, furiously trying to rip them from his body.

Reno felt the bed shift, and turned to see Suzanne, now standing off to the side, gracefully removing her own remaining articles of clothing. He studied her only briefly before continuing the effort to remove his pants, now with renewed vigor, which only proved to make it more of a struggle, but before he knew it, she was rounding the bed to stand before him. As refined as ever, she knelt before him and slowly moved his hands out of the way. Her fingers undid the button and zipper with ease, allowing his erection to now press against his underwear, and through the opening of his pants. She teased it briefly, the hint of a smirk showing on her lips, before pulling it out from the elastic waistband.

Her eyes inspected it as if she wanted to memorize every detail. The redhead stared down at her, fascinated. She was just sitting there, looking at his dick, stroking it a little without really seeming to think much, and just that small amount of action and movement made him so unbelievably turned on. The slightest brush of her fingers felt like electricity against his skin. She drew her mouth close to the tip, but stopped short and looked up at him. "Reno?"

In a daze, he looked down at her. "Huh?"

She blinked a few times. "Wake up, Reno."

Now he was confused. Did she think he wasn't paying attention to what she was saying? "What?"

She smiled and let out a light hearted tinkling little laugh. "I said wake up. It's almost time for breakfast."

* * *

Reno clenched his eyes shut. He didn't want to wake up yet. But it was getting harder and harder to ignore the incessant wake-up calls that Sean was giving him.

"Reno, wake up!! I can smell breakfast, it's gonna be good!" When the only response he got was a groan, and a roll to the side, he thought it was time to hop up and down on the bed. "Re! No! You! Gotta! Wake! Up! For! Breakfast!" He stopped jumping and fell into a sitting position beside the Turk, bobbing up and down briefly.

Reno finally rolled over on his back, his arm sprawled out, a glazed look in his eyes. He finally opened his mouth to give a proper response to the kid. "UUUUUGGGHHH….." Or so he had hoped. Sean looked at him for a moment, confused, before bursting out into laugher. Reno sat up now and rubbed his eyes. "What's so funny…?"

"What's that in the bed?!" he finally managed to ask, between giggles.

Reno looked down at the raised fabric coming from the general area of his crotch.. "Well, kiddo, that's called 'morning wood'. It happens when you sleep really good, or when you have an _especially_ good dream."

"Like about exploring a magic cave?"

He smirked, and had to stifle his laughter. "Yes. Those are the exact kinds of dreams I'm talking about."

They both looked to the door when they heard Suzanne's voice shouting from downstairs. "SEAN, IS HE UP YET?! TELL HIM THAT IF HE'S NOT OUT OF BED IN TEN MINUTES, HIS BREAKFAST IS GOING IN A DIFFERENT HOLE!!" Yeesh. How could he have even briefly thought that dream was real? Sean turned back to Reno and opened his mouth.

"Don't bother, kid. I know. Tell her I'll be down in a bit. There's something I have to... erm..." He looked back to the lump in his bed. "...take care of…"

Sean grinned at him. "Kay, just come down soon. Suzy's been acting kinda jumpy today. And angry. She'll come yell at you if you take too long." The kid turned and trotted out the door.

When Reno thought he'd gone all the way downstairs, he finally removed the covers and frowned at his hard-on, pressing against the thin material of his boxers. If it weren't for that damned dream, he'd probably be able to get rid of it fairly easily.. Palmer without clothes in a sexy pose usually did the trick. But the idea of _her_ and what she _might have done_ if the dream had gone on was engraved in his mind. "Shit..." He stood up, grabbed a change of clothes, and started towards the bathroom, inconspicuously covering himself with the small pile of attire he'd picked up. When he stepped onto the tile of the bathroom, he felt a little more safe, like he was in the clear. Quietly shutting the door behind him, he looked for a good spot, finally settling on the shower. It was easy to clean, after all…

Now to get down to business. Reno supposed that now that he was going to go ahead and do this, imagining Suzanne didn't seem so wrong. He tried to recapture the images he had in his dream, but every second, they seemed further and further away. That was the only problem with using a dream as material, he supposed.

He couldn't shake the fact that if he was caught, he'd probably get slapped. Despite the slight fear of getting caught, which he hadn't experienced since the first time he'd done this years ago, his erection was still there. _Welp... better get this over with quick... _He deftly removed his boxers, and stepped inside the shower, leaning one hand against the shower wall, and taking hold of his hard shaft with the other.

As he pleasured himself, he closed his eyes, recalling images, both imagined and remembered. Suzanne standing in the nude, dripping wet, smoking one of his cigarettes. Suzanne moaning and writhing on a bed beneath him. Suzanne maintaining grace as she took his cock into her mouth. He replayed the dream in his head, trying to figure out how it would go.

She would suck him off, then come up to sit in his lap, kissing him, his cum still fresh in her mouth and on her face.

Reno grunted as the thought just built up his arousal even more, his hand moving even faster.

In one motion, he would lay back and roll over, still kissing her, now groping her breast. But he would stop after a moment to remove his pants the rest of the way.

He leaned forward, resting his head against the wall as he kept going. "Ahh. Nng."

He would look back to see her, laying on the bed. He would crawl between her legs, pulling her close, automatically positioning himself…

"Reno, what's taking you so…"

He stopped mid-stroke, face beet red both from what he was doing, and from getting caught by the woman he was thinking about while doing said act. Wide-eyed, he followed Suzanne's gaze to his hand on his dick.

"Long…" She was blushing now too, apparently too shocked to find words. She looked back at his face, the most awkward silence EVER looming in the air.

"This…" He tried to hide himself a little. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, WOMAN!!"

This seemed to snap her out of her trance. She puffed her chest up, crossed her arms and retorted. "What, I MADE you leave the door unlocked? At least close the shower door next time."

Reno shot her a glare. Maybe he wouldn't be so upset if he wasn't caught masturbating only 5 seconds ago. "Shut up! I wouldn't have to do this at all, if we were having sex like we should be!!" She flailed around for a moment and held a finger to her lips.

"Shut. Up. You dumbass!" She hissed, just above a whisper. "Sean'll hear you!"

Despite his frustration, he felt a little bad about what he'd said. He knew how hard she tried to keep him innocent for as long as possible. "Sorry…" He muttered. It wasn't as if he said that sort of thing on purpose… he was just more prone to slip-ups than others. Or when he was nervous anyway…

"But…" She started. Reno looked up. She was fiddling with her fingers, looking to the side. "It's not like you're the only one who gets urges, you know…" They both blushed at this. She, because she was embarrassed at her remark, and he, because… well… he still had an erection. Suzanne finally raised her eyes to gauge his reaction, only to realize he was still in the mid-jerking-off pose. This seemed to only make her blush harder. "Um…"

Reno saved the moment by asking "Can we talk about his later?" She briskly nodded and left the bathroom without a second thought. As awkward as that entire interchange was, especially the bit towards the end, he couldn't count it as anything bad. She'd basically told him she wanted to sleep with him, after all. But as much as he wanted to mull this over for a while, he still needed to finish the task at hand. Well… the task _in_ his hand, so to speak. Luckily, as passion killing as that conversation was, that last bit caused new, more realistic and achievable images to play through his mind. Now that he was alone and he was sure that neither Suzanne, nor Sean would be bursting in on him, he could finish his business.

* * *

Suzanne stared hard at the pan with the pancake in it, keeping an eye out for small bubbles in the batter. Now that she'd sent Sean off to a play date ((A/N: with Rude. :D )), she had time to think. Had she really admitted that to Reno? Who was she kidding? All she'd said was that she gets 'urges' sometimes. Only an idiot wouldn't know that. She was human, wasn't she? Of course, he probably took it to mean she was ready to sleep with him. That thought, though, made other thoughts wander into her head. Would that really be so bad? They'd been dating for a while, they'd already had sex once (even though she didn't remember it). Would it be so wrong to take the next step in their relationship? She flipped the pancake.

Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her, and a certain redheaded Turk placed a kiss on her cheek. He let go and grabbed a plate to start serving himself breakfast. Before he even got a slice of bacon, Suzanne asked "Did you wash your hands?" He paused, and finally frowned in response. Reno left the plate where it was and turned on the sink.

"I was hoping you forgot." He mumbled as he lathered up his digits.

Suzanne scooped up the pancake in one swift motion and set it on his plate, hot and fresh. "Oh, Reno… How could I have forgotten the image of you polishing your rod in my nice clean shower?"

He frowned. "I washed it down the drain." He took a bite out of his pancake and paused briefly. "Good pancakes today…" He took another bite. "Where's Sean?"

Suzanne reached over and turned off the stove. "He's off with a friend." Reno nodded thoughtfully at her statement and continued eating his food. The house was silent again, nearly awkwardly so. One could hear the gears turning in their heads. When the Turk set down an empty plate, the girl turned to face him. "Soo…"

"So you… 'get urges', huh?" He started arrogantly. He let out a smirk when her face flushed. His pride allowed him to lean in a little. "Does this mean I'll get lucky today?" Reno inched closer, making her back into the counter.

"N-not necessarily!" Her face was beet red now. Having had sex on the mind all morning, it wasn't hard to imagine having a morning romp with her boyfriend. It would be so easy right now to just kiss him and take him upstairs and...

He gently took hold of her hips and leaned into her, lightly touching his forehead to hers. "Doesn't mean I can't try... does it?" Their noses were touching now, and as he leaned forward just a hint more... the front door opened.

Sean wiped his eyes and sniffled a little. "I scraped my knee…" He glared in an attempt to mask his pain. Suzanne shifted her gaze to Reno, who pulled his hands away from her like she'd suddenly sprouted spikes.

After she'd gone to the boy and knelt down to look at his wound, she glanced back at Reno, an almost apologetic look in her eyes. "We'll continue our… er… discussion later… I have to go to work once I'm done with this…" The redhead threw his head back and sighed.

"FIIIINE… I'll just go to the bar and drown my sorrows…" He paused for a moment before adding in a miserable tone. "…Alone…" He stood there for a while, staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to protest, or to tell him that she'd skip work today, or to leap up and run to his arms. Yeah. Fat chance.

She finally noticed him staring, and without a second thought, suggested "Or you could go to work like you're supposed to."

_Heartless_. He thought as he walked out the door. _Utterly heartless_. He didn't want to work. He couldn't work (although there was never really any actual work involved here anyway). Not now, when so much was on his mind. Although, he supposed it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to have some time away from her. This way, he could come up with the perfect plan of action. As he rounded the corner, he almost plowed over his boss. "Tseng?"

"Reno, there's something I need to discuss with you."

* * *

"ARRRGGGGHHH!! I don't know what to _do_, Cid! He's expecting me to do it with him now!!"

"Jesus Christ, I don't want to hear about _this_." Cid looked around the plane at her. "Seriously. _Don't talk to me about sex with that Turk_." Cid liked to help her out when he could. He really did! But this was the one topic he didn't want to have to discuss. "If you don't want to do it, then don't do it. Simple as that."

Suzanne leaned back and sighed, fiddling with the cap to Cid's water bottle. "But I kinda do wanna do it!"

The blond-haired pilot growled. "I'm not joking. We're done now. You're on your own on this one, kiddo."

She glared in his direction, even though she knew he couldn't see. "You're no help at all…"

Cid finally walked out from behind the plane and leaned next to her, grabbing the water bottle from her and taking a swig. "Why in the hell did you decide to be with him, anyway?"

"Good question…" Though she'd originally intended for the question to be spoken jokingly, she found that it really was a good question. Anyone looking at their relationship from the outside probably wouldn't understand. It even confused her occasionally. "I dunno, I mean… he's got the sex drive of a jackrabbit, but… He's really fun to be around. And I've never had a real boyfriend, you know?"

Cid had placed a cigarette between his lips while he listened to her, and lit it as he spoke. "What're you talkin' about? You've had boyfriends."

Suzanne quirked a brow. "Yeah. Boyfriends. What, you mean the guys I would make out with at the bar when I was piss drunk?"

The pilot laughed. "I guess you're right… So what, you're dating him just for fun?"

For some reason that she couldn't figure out, that comment really made her mad. But why? With the way she saw their relationship, it was a fairly accurate description. The confusion and gloom began spreading across her face. The fact was she didn't want to see it like that. Despite some certain aspects of his personality, she found him really easy to talk to when it mattered. He may have had a shady occupation, but he was still generally nice… Or at least he was _now_. So why should she have the arrogance to be dating him 'just for fun'? "No!" She said it almost too loud.

Cid gained an expression similar to hers, but with a small element of disgust. "You're serious about him?!"

Suzanne pushed herself away from the plane. "Aaaaall right, you're about done here, so I'm going home early for the day, I'll see you later!" With that, she ran out the gate and back home.

* * *

"What do you _mean_ I'm 'suspended'?!"

Tseng quirked a dark eyebrow at the redhead. "Just what it sounds like. You skip work almost daily, you're drunk or hung over for half of our meetings, and you're spending all your time chasing women. What did you think was going to happen?"

Reno glared at his well dressed boss. "Wo_man_. There's only the one."

The dark haired Turk grit his teeth and rolled his eyes. Reno always had to be difficult. Confidence oozed from his pores, so of course, he nearly always had a snappy, usually snarky comeback to whatever anyone had to say. It was aggravating. "_That doesn't make a difference_. The point is… you aren't doing your job. So I'm sending you back to Midgar for a few weeks. A helicopter is coming to pick you up this evening."

Reno let his head fall back, as he let out a frustrated groan. Just when things had started to turn around with Suzanne he had to go screw it all up… But he knew he wasn't going to weasel his was out of a suspension of all things. Tseng had waited long enough, hoping he'd clean up his act, so for once, Reno accepted the fact that he had basically asked for it. "FIIIINE…" This situation certainly felt familiar. "I'll go pack my things…"

Tseng pursed his lips and glared at the back of the slacker. "The copter will be here at 6 p.m. Don't be late."

* * *

Reno trudged on back to the house, dragging his feet as he went. He was so close... _So close_ to getting her (willingly) into bed. If only he had some time alone with her. But the alone time that they found never seemed to last long. Usually, they couldn't get in more than a few kisses, (and a couple gropes, from his end) before Sean walked in, or one of his associates stopped by.

It was only noon now, so that gave him a good six hours before he had to go. Six hours to flirt and tease and maybe get laid… But who was he kidding? The girl was probably still working, and once she got off, she'd bring the kid home, and they wouldn't get any time together before he flew off to Midgar. By the time he was _un_suspended, they'd probably have relocated…

He turned the brass doorknob of the front door and took not two steps inside, when he heard the sound of a running shower. So someone was home… Did Suzanne pick up Sean and come home early today? He raised a brow and walked upstairs. A quick glance into the kid's room told him that he and Suzanne were alone. It took a moment for his mind to fully process this idea, but when it did, his eyes lit up. '_Alone_…' His eyes snapped to the bathroom door when the water suddenly turned off. It was like a sign. He was sure there was some sexual frustration in her from this morning, even if she wasn't aware of it, and she was just the turn of a doorknob away, wet and naked.

He knew that she would probably be mad at him, but he was confident. Sure of himself. Positive that he could get her to change her mind. He boldly took the first step. And another, and yet another, until finally he was at the door. He could hear humming inside. He didn't know why he felt so hesitant all of the sudden. Perhaps he felt like this was his last shot. Like if he screwed this up, he may as well toss any plans with her out the window. His heart was pounding in his chest as he finally reached forward and slowly opened the door.

Reno, for the first time that he could remember since his early teens, felt a little dizzy. She tended to bring back a lot of feelings like that that he hadn't felt in a long time. Dizziness, shyness, an actual tangible fear of what someone thought of him. He shook the lightheadedness away and proceeded. She was facing the shower at the moment, already in her underwear, towel-drying her hair. Her back was to him, and she hadn't noticed him walk in. He grinned. That meant he could get the upper hand and catch her off guard. It was always a favorable start for him.

He walked up silently behind her and wrapped his arms around her bare waist, kissing her cheek softly. "R-Reno?!" Suzanne's startled voice made him laugh. He pulled her tight against him, trapping her with his arms.

"You know…" He said evenly. He was back in the mindset he usually had in these situations, literally feeling his confidence sky rocket off the charts. "I've been thinking about this morning ever since you sent me out…" That was one tactic he used on the more difficult girls, and one he's already used several times on the one caught in his embrace. Remind them that they said or did something mean, and they would be more likely to give in. He dared to let his fingers travel down past her navel. "I was wondering if we could pick up where we left off?" Her hands were already shakily, but weakly, trying to pry his arm away.

"I-I-I… Er… I n-need to pick up Sean soon…" That was an easy lie to crack.

"You're not expected until four anyway…" He moved his lips close to her ear, and whispered seductively. "What's the rush?" His fingers lightly brushed against the cotton between her legs, and she shivered.

The phone rang.

The phone fucking rang, and Reno sighed in defeat. "I'll get it…." He grumbled. He wasn't happy. At all. He nearly had her, and then whoever the fucker was decided _now_ of all times, would be the best time to- "Hello?" He hoped that the caller would hear the annoyance in his voice, so that maybe he would get the picture, and leave them be.

"What the fuck are _you_ answering the phone for?! That ain't your house!" The voice was gruff, and a little scratchy. Immediately recognizable as the pilot's. "Look, put Suzanne on the phone, I need to- OH SHIT!!" There was an explosion. Not that Reno wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't listening to the phone. It was a fairly small town. For a moment, Reno was worried that something might have happened, but Cid's voice started in again, this time, exasperated. "Look, just tell the girl she needs to get her little ass over here…" With that, he hung up. Reno put the phone back into the receiver.

That was it. She would go back to work, then she'd come home with the kid, and then, he'd leave just a little bit later. He supposed there was nothing he could do about it…

* * *

But there _was_ something he could do. He wouldn't be able to just not tell her about the call. First off, because she wasn't stupid. There was an explosion, and Cid was the only one he could think of who could potentially be… well… exploded. And second, if she found out, she would be mad. And angry women don't sleep with you. But he still had a plan. His last chance.

When Reno entered the bathroom, he found Suzanne putting on the remainder of her clothes. "Let me guess…" She started "That explosion came from Cid's house, and I need to go back to work." She passed him in the doorway, but he caught her wrist, causing her to look back at him. She tugged against his grip. "What is it? I have to go."

Reno licked his lips, which had dried when he realized how little time he had. "Listen. I'm being sent back to Midgar for a while, and I leave tonight."

Her pull slackened, and she took a step back towards him. There were a lot of feeling showing behind her eyes, and they all came out in one word. "Oh…" For a pregnant moment, neither of them were sure of what to say. She was at a loss for words, and he was waiting for her to speak. To say anything to him other than her simple 'oh'.

Reno finally chose to tilt her chin up, drawing her eyes to look at him. "I want you to come with me."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to finish. I was stuck for a while, and then I was on vacation, then I was working on it little by little, doing what I could, aaaand then the computer this was saved on was hit by a horrendous virus, so I had to wait several days to get this file off of it. Next chapter will probably be lemon. R&R please. :)

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER: So if you're in the strange group who started reading this despite it being an M rated fic, who then hit this chapter and went "oh shit, there's sex in this?!" Well… This summary is for you. In this chapter, Suzanne catches Reno yanking his salami, and then she (for whatever reason) admits that she gets urges too. Reno takes this as a green light for sex. He starts coming onto her after Sean leaves for the day, but then, the kid returns only moments later, ruining Reno's chances. Grudgingly, he leaves the house, immediately bumping into Tseng. Suzanne has an awkward conversation with Cid, and then goes him several hours early. Cut back to Reno being told he's being suspended, and sent back to Midgar, since he's lazy and almost never shows up to work. He goes home, feeling worse than ever, realizing he probably won't have a chance with Suzanne at all (by the time he became un-suspended, the Turks would probably have a new location). When he arrives back home, he realizes that Suzanne is there too. Hours before Sean would be home. He goes to flirt with her, and just as he thinks he's got her, the phone rings, and Cid calls her back to work. In a panic, Reno asks Suzanne to go to Midgar with him. TO BE CONTINUED!!


End file.
